IBM switches 401k match to annual lump sum

[Huston55]

IOW, most of us here should consider ourselves fortunate for the times we worked/lived in, to some extent. I know my 90 yo parents have come to realize their timing was nearly ideal...they retired with full COLAd pensions and retiree health care for life.

Since boomers are the generation btwn the two discussed in these posts, I'll sandwich this comment in here.

The fact is that our (boomers) parents generation did/does sit in a sweet spot regarding DB pensions and SS/Medicare benefit. In addition to what MidPack mentions, our parents will collect significantly more from SS/Medicare than they contributed. That additional amount comes, of course, from us (the next generation).

I expect our children will have their own financial burden to pay, as changes to the compensation and benefits model continue to play out. However, I don't think it's that much more egregious than changes when we were early in our careers, and doesn't rise to 'riot in the streets' level.

And you're leaving out the fact that today's youth is being asked to pay higher taxes or accept lower future benefits for themselves to support entitlements for current geezers........ That's the problem with schemes like SS. The gov't promises big benefits while times are good. Sometimes the next generation has to pay for them while times are bad.

Today's young people should be rioting in the streets.

 

[samclem]

The intergenerational "who had it easier" or "who stole from who" tussles aren't very illuminating. The folks who got the "best deal" from SS are long dead--they contributed virtually nothing and got checks for their whole retirement. There are young workers today who will get a "higher payback" from their SS contributions than average boomers--"payback" depends much more on average earnings level (less earnings=higher "payback") than when you were born. The majority of US workers have >never< had defined benefit retirement plans. And DB plans weren't as great as some folks now seem to believe--ask workers who had to change employers multiple times and either never got vested or never got to enjoy the especially high accumulation phases built into some plans. Or ask a Delta pilot or a Delco management employee if they would have been better off controlling their own retirement money. DC plans and IRAs gave workers a lot more flexibility than they enjoyed under DB schemes.

 

[youbet]

DC plans and IRAs gave workers a lot more flexibility than they enjoyed under DB schemes.

+1

And DC plans and IRA's don't ask subsequent generations to provide the payouts, regardless of their ability to pay.