A preview of the U.S. without pensions
mercurynews.com
A preview of the U.S. without pensions
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Re: A preview of the U.S. without pensions
#2I got blocked by the paywall, but the same article is here:
https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/23/i-hope-i-can-quit-wor...
Re: A preview of the U.S. without pensions
#3I got blocked by the paywall, but the same article is here: https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/23/i-hope-i-can-quit-wor...
OK, we've changed to that from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/i-hope-i-can.... Thanks!
Re: A preview of the U.S. without pensions
#4Whats with the scrolling on that website...?
Re: A preview of the U.S. without pensions
#5And the best part is that the next generation will have it even worse. They’ll have 75% Social security payments, little chance of building net worth through home purchases and a lifetime of $10/hr jobs.
Re: A preview of the U.S. without pensions
#6Defined benefit plans, i.e. pensions, are a total disaster. They are premised on a fantasy: that the pension fund will make enough money on the market to to pay its liabilities, or that the backing entity will bail it out if not. Those are bad assumptions. The result is pension funds going broke across the country, and it's just getting started.
Defined contribution plans, 401k's and such, are much more sensible. You set aside a percentage of your income, your employer throws some in for you as well, and you decide how to invest it. You decide what level of risk you want to take with your future wealth, and you reap the gains and losses.
Re: A preview of the U.S. without pensions
#7Is retirement planning (Live "below your means" and put in 20-30% or more of your salary towards long term investments), and family support (you fund your kids education and parents post retirement needs, and your kids fund your post retirement needs and your grandkids education) such an alien concept for Americans? When you manage it internally, instead of paying interest to a bank, you just have lost opportunity costs of investment within the family.
AFAIK, most Asian countries do work this way. Given American salaries, this should be very easy to manage in US
Re: A preview of the U.S. without pensions
#8Terrible spot to be in, hoping I will avoid it with a traveling retirement plan (401k). How do other 1st world countries manage elderly workers/people that should no longer work? SS is an option and I don't believe it will go bankrupt, wages of about 125K contribute to SS, anything larger does not. Just have to adjust that limit to keep it where it needs to be. So that helps a little bit.
Re: A preview of the U.S. without pensions
#9> federal judge agreed that McDonnell-Douglas had illegally considered the pensions in its decision to close the plant. The employees case, presented by attorneys Joe Farris and Mike Mulder, showed that the company had tracked pension savings in its plant closure decisions
WTF! So a company is not allowed to consider costs in a cost cutting decision? Was this not a conscious risk an employee took by accepting a job on the chance of pension received if they were not fired before retirement? How is it different from buying a ton of stocks of failing companies and then suing if the price crashes further?
Re: A preview of the U.S. without pensions
#10Is retirement planning (Live "below your means" and put in 20-30% or more of your salary towards long term investments), and family support (you fund your kids education and parents post retirement needs, and your kids fund your post retirement needs and your grandkids education) such an alien concept for Americans? When you manage it internally, instead of paying interest to a bank, you just have lost opportunity co…
Good in theory but difficult in practice. I only know what I know because I read about it, was lucky to be exposed to retirement planning, everyone else? Not so lucky.