In the United States, a government shutdown, officially known as a lapse in appropriations, occurs when funding legislation required to finance the federal government is not enacted before the next fiscal year begins.
A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any program, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income. The U.S. Government's Social Security Trust Fund, which oversees $2.57 trillion in assets, is the world's largest public pension fund.
Funding, enforcement, and trade-offs: the three questions that tell you what a bill would actually do.