Contribution limits for 401(k) plans and IRAs were unchanged, but the 1.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment announced by the IRS this week will change pension plan deductions for 2014.

The Society for Human Resource Management says three-quarters of respondents to a survey about various plans did not know the key differences.

In the days before health care reform, the IRS permitted employers to determine the maximum amount an employee could set aside tax-free in a Flexible Spending Account. But that was then, and this is now.

Employers have been killing off defined pension plans for years now. But terminating one isn't as easy as simply closing it down.