The pension system destruction continues

[yakers]

It really is all about the bottom line.



I mean if I was a young guy I would have VERY LITTLE ALLEGENCE TO MY COMPANY!

I would be the whore and find the best paying place year after year!

I am good at what I do.

And that is where we are now or at least where we are headed. I prefered the era when workers were loyal to the company and the company looked after them. I do not celebrate the changes, like some, but I do acknowledge them. There are really tradeoffs that will cost something. What will be interesting is to see what develops over several business cycles when the various benifits of loyality VS flexibility plays out. It may be an issue of optimum VS maximum. AFAIK as the population levels off/declines employee retention will become more important. Maybe we will see the return of employer provided fringe benifits.

 

[HFWR]

Ther are some who believe there'll be an employment crunch toward the end of the decade, and maybe then employees will have the upper hand. Corps will then be dangling bennies out there to attract talent...

Hope by then I'm an innocent bystander!!

 

[bbuzzard]

Many of you love your SWR strategy, but many of the women left behind when you die won't be able to handle this after a few bumps in the market at age 83.

Off topic, but I have to call you on this. Are you suggesting that women are not capable of making reasonable investment decisions Becuase that is what it sounds like. Alternatively, you may be suggesting that most off the people on the board are male, and their spouses may not be as interested in/knowledgable about investing as they are. For all I know, this may be true.

Maybe your comment is reasonable after all.

 

[Ginger]

I left a firm back in 1990 when they announced their DBP was being discontinued. I went in immediately, and stated I would not work for a firm that didn't have a 'retirement plan' in place. At the time, I worked at the law firm for 11 years. I acknowledge all the ladies who contribute to this board are extremely financially savvy - take it from me - a woman - who has always been interested in financial matters.

 

[NYCGuy]

The pity with default by large organizations (US Govt, US corporations, Chinese govt, etc.) on generational obligations is that the efficient solution is permanently lost. 401k plans are not as good as pensions because they force every player to fend weakly for himself losing the benefits of the law of large numbers. With a 401k each worker has to plan for the financial worst-case of a long life and the risk of running out of money. The large organization providing an annuity/pension need only plan for the average case, lowering the cost to everyone and relieving the participants of the worry of outliving their money. Too bad you can't trust them not to steal your money.

It for problems of just this scale that governments can provide a solution that individuals cannot possibly achieve on their own.

NewGuy, very sorry to hear about your case.

 

[sgeeeee]

It really is all about the bottom line.

With long term rates the way they are now big corp can take a windfall on paper by getting rid of a later commitment.

Dump the pension freeze the pension call it what you want it is a means to prop up the stockholders shares in a company.

I really wonder when this comes back to bite these companies in the arse.

I mean if I was a young guy I would have VERY LITTLE ALLEGENCE TO MY COMPANY!

I would be the whore and find the best paying place year after year!

I am good at what I do.

Professional sports has already undergone a similar transition. Years ago, organizations used to keep their stars around forever. If you were a fan of some pro team, chances are most of the same players stayed on the team for most of their careers. Now teams trade players so often that the only constant a fan is rooting for is the uniform.

The result certainly hasn't been reduced costs for team owners. The best players have probably benefited significantly -- till they get injured and slow down.

But I wonder how many large electronics companies would be able to recognize a good engineer when they see them. I'm not sure it will work the same way for other professions.

 

[New Thinking]

Bbuzzard Regarding "Off topic, but I have to call you on this. Are you suggesting that women are not capable of making reasonable investment decisions Becuase that is what it sounds like. Alternatively, you may be suggesting that most off the people on the board are male, and their spouses may not be as interested in/knowledgable about investing as they are. For all I know, this may be true.Maybe your comment is reasonable after all. "

I am just looking at the averages..I am not saying that women can't manage finances, but I am saying you have to look at the typical situation. Many women can successfully manage a retirement income. But the majority of these situations are when the men manage the finances..this may change as the boomers retire, but I don't know..I can tell you that my father died two years ago and my father-in-law this past spring..both surviving spouses are bright, educated women, but have very little financial knowledge..Not only do they have to deal with grief, but now have to wonder if they have enough money to live on the rest of their lives.

All I am saying is that you have to look down the road..Most currently married women can expect to be widows in the future...DB pensions protected them..When the nest egg is gone (in a 401k world), who will be around to suffer

 

[dumpster56]

Women??

Heck many average americans cannot figure out APR on their credit card balances.

The move away from pensions will make working longer and dying earlier the norm later this century here in america.

In fact I am glad my pension will allow me at 50 to hang it up after almost 30 years teaching for cr@p wages in an american inner city that quite frankly is as dangerous as some places in IRAQ!

But the new college grads better be ready to invest and hope the real $hit does not hit the fan in the next 25 years, MEANING CHINA!!

Just wait till the Chinese take Taiwan militarily and america watches from the sidelines.

China will be the engine that runs the world, we will become like the old British Empire.

Second rate.

 

[Nords]

Just wait till the Chinese take Taiwan militarily and america watches from the sidelines.

That's not the plan.

China & Taiwan are expected to work out their own problems peacefully, but if the amphibious craft start piling up on the beach then we're gonna get one heckuva chance to implement the CONPLAN that PACOM's been working so hard on for the last few years.

PACOM and his Ops flag officer were briefing SECDEF & their Beijing counterparts during the command post exercise. (Developing those briefs were a separate post on why work sucks.) PACOM wants the PRC to understand exactly what's going to happen if military force is used...