that could come in the form of a lump-sum penson pay-out.it's a move putting working americans directly in control of their retirement planning. as darren gash reports, it's something that can be both empowering and risky. >> reporter: generally, video of a pile of cash does not make for exciting television. but if you are one of the millions of people who could be offered a big pile of cash this year, this picture gets pretty interesting. in the pension world, a big pile of cash is called a lump sum. a lump sum is a check for the current value of a stream of pension payments promised over many years. >> lump sums provide an opportunity for plan sponsors to give those assets to participants, and have the participants share the gain and losses and risks attached to those investments. >> reporter: we're talking about lump-sum payments now because congress changed the pension rules back in 2006 to make it cheaper for employers to offer former workers a lump-sum pay- out instead of keeping them in a pension plan. those rules were phased in and t