Pension Crisis

[Chef Jim]

 

It's not a binary solution. Don't for a second think that moving everything to a defined contribution plan will solve the problem, because all you will be doing is reducing the employers' contribution to the retirement system. Pension overhaul is needed, especially in the public sector, with lower pension payouts and later retirement eligibility. But a hybrid defined benefit/defined contribution scheme needs to be in place.

 

It already is for a vast majority of Americans.

[GG]

 

It already is for a vast majority of Americans.

 

It is and should stay that way. I was responding to commentary that all plans should move to defined contribution, which in my opinion will lead to a far worse outcome.

[Chef Jim]

 

It is and should stay that way. I was responding to commentary that all plans should move to defined contribution, which in my opinion will lead to a far worse outcome.

 

Not sure if you were aware the I was referring to Social Security as a "defined benefit" program. I think all public sector employees need the exact same situation. No more tax payer funded pensions. Phase them out over time. They should be on Social Security and the difference needs to be up to them. The problem with the current pension system is the public sector employees have access to their pensions way too early. My librarian example earlier is a perfect example. She's going to be on the public dime for 30 years or more. Using just a minimum COLA of 2% her income will be nearly a quarter of a million dollars when she's 80. That's absurd.

 

Education is first and foremost here.

[GG]

 

Not sure if you were aware the I was referring to Social Security as a "defined benefit" program. I think all public sector employees need the exact same situation. No more tax payer funded pensions. Phase them out over time. They should be on Social Security and the difference needs to be up to them. The problem with the current pension system is the public sector employees have access to their pensions way too early. My librarian example earlier is a perfect example. She's going to be on the public dime for 30 years or more. Using just a minimum COLA of 2% her income will be nearly a quarter of a million dollars when she's 80. That's absurd.

 

Education is first and foremost here.

 

SS needs to be revamped, but that won't be enough. As I said, public pension schemes need to be revamped to increase qualification for full pensions and raise the retirement. Private companies realized more than a decade ago that they can't afford pensions that were less generous than public pensions. But again, you can't go all defined contribution.

[Chef Jim]

 

SS needs to be revamped, but that won't be enough. As I said, public pension schemes need to be revamped to increase qualification for full pensions and raise the retirement. Private companies realized more than a decade ago that they can't afford pensions that were less generous than public pensions. But again, you can't go all defined contribution.

 

SS will be revamped at some time. It's a tough topic for the pols to talk about. They likely will do away with the the ability to draw at 62 and FRA needs to be bumped to 70 ASAP. The longer they delay these the harder it's going to be. They've got a very large segment of the population (millennial) that need their SS changed while their still young. Millennials who are now entering the work force if they take SS at 62 will have no challenge getting checks for 50 years.

[Greg F]

 

SS will be revamped at some time.

 

Since the Federal government prints the currency, the solution will be the age old one of inflating away the real value while simultaneously rigging the CPI. The states OTOH don't have that luxury.

[TakeYouToTasker]

 

SS needs to be revamped, but that won't be enough. As I said, public pension schemes need to be revamped to increase qualification for full pensions and raise the retirement. Private companies realized more than a decade ago that they can't afford pensions that were less generous than public pensions. But again, you can't go all defined contribution.

You absolutely can and should go 100% defined contribution. Education surrounding the importance of saving and investing for retirement and other financial goals need to be a staple of our education system. Couple that with financially incentivizing employers to increase their participation on their employees behalf via the tax code, and you'll solve the problem.

 

Defined benefits plans aren't financially viable to offer anymore, which is why they are rapidly disappearing from the private sector.

[Joe Miner]

You absolutely can and should go 100% defined contribution. Education surrounding the importance of saving and investing for retirement and other financial goals need to be a staple of our education system. Couple that with financially incentivizing employers to increase their participation on their employees behalf via the tax code, and you'll solve the problem.

 

Defined benefits plans aren't financially viable to offer anymore, which is why they are rapidly disappearing from the private sector.

You have to realize that you won't be able to educate all the retards that work in the public sector no matter how much you try. They attend work in the public sector for a reason.

 

 

But I will say I'm awful tired of paying the money that supports these idiots flush retirements.

[Nanker]

 

SS will be revamped at some time. It's a tough topic for the pols to talk about. They likely will do away with the the ability to draw at 62 and FRA needs to be bumped to 70 ASAP. The longer they delay these the harder it's going to be. They've got a very large segment of the population (millennial) that need their SS changed while their still young. Millennials who are now entering the work force if they take SS at 62 will have no challenge getting checks for 50 years.

A few other things should be stopped as well. Have any incremental push for waiting past 70 should be capped at two years. Currently you can gain more by waiting till age 70 to "max out" your benefit. That's a five year 4% push per year on your benefit.

Disability should be really a lot harder to get SS for. You should need more than a doctor's note to prove you're incapable of doing any work. There are tens of thousands of people who gave up looking for work and when their 99 weeks of unemployment ran out - applied for and got SS because they were "disable".

 

There are other aspects of the program that need to be trimmed too. Senator Moynihan was the last real Senator IMO and he had the courage and intellect to tackle revamping SS. It needs to be done again.

[keepthefaith]

 

She's going to be on the public dime for 30 years or more. Using just a minimum COLA of 2% her income will be nearly a quarter of a million dollars when she's 80. That's absurd.

 

 

Yes it is absurd and here in Illinois we have about the worst examples of this and the worst pension situation in the country. We have a governor willing to make the tough call to revise state gov pensions going forward but the dems in state government won't even consider it even with the awful numbers under their noses. Shameful, but I'm !@#$ing out of Illinois in a few years so I don't give a ****.

[TakeYouToTasker]

You have to realize that you won't be able to educate all the retards that work in the public sector no matter how much you try. They attend work in the public sector for a reason.

 

 

But I will say I'm awful tired of paying the money that supports these idiots flush retirements.

I'm not talking about educating public sector employees.

 

I'm talking about mandating basic finance and household budgeting classes at every grade level post-arithmetic.