PENSION PERIL LOOMING: U.S.

New York Post ^ | January 11, 2004 | STEPHEN LYNCH

[sarcasm]

January 11, 2004 -- This past week, the head of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation - the government agency that insures the pensions of millions of Americans - announced he will be leaving in February.

His resignation letter was less a fond farewell than a dire warning.

[sarcasm]

ping

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[BillM]

Gee, maybe George Bush's personal pension plan program doesn't look so bad after all. It is remarkable that unions think that there are no consequences to squeezing all the blood out of the golden goose.
It is best to trust yourself.

[LoudRepublicangirl]

This is why I pay into a deferred Comp where I work. I already assumed there would be no social security and I don't assume that my pension will be waiting for me at retirement.

[sarcasm]

I expect that people who don't save for their retirement will find a way to force us to pay their bills - at the ballot box.

[RockChucker]

Who controls the money in Deferred Comp? If it is the company, what happens to the money if the company goes bankrupt?

[waterstraat]

I already assumed there would be no social security and I don't assume that my pension

If you dont think social security and pensions will be there, you better be prepared for civil unrest, political upheaval, and much stricter less free Homeland Security laws that WILL affect you and your guns.

[Mr. Bird]

The agency was able to cover the gap with its sizable assets, but those reserves won't last forever.

So rather than throw more money at it, why not look at the alternative: not having a PBGC at all. If you change the pension regulations in such a way to ensure at least partial asset retention for employees in the event of catastrophe, we get the same result. Right now, pension funds are easily raided, or used to mask declining profitability. Tighten it up.

An employee from a failing company may not get all he was promised, but he can get something. But charging my company to cover the failures of others is a horrible idea. Under a different system, employers could compete for labor using more attractive deferred comp plans and other non-pension retirement benefits.

[snopercod]

The pension problem is a metaphor for the entire American economy.

"ACCOUNT OVERDRAWN"

[flim-flam]

UPS has bills in the Senate (S.1492) and the House (H. R. 2910) on this matter and seek a Congressional debate. (The text of the bills are the same.) The company wants to "partition" the multi-employer pension funds it contributes to. The assets and liabilities of the multi-employer fund would be partitioned in proportion to the amounts each employer contributes to the fund. So in effect, each contributing employer stands on their own and if they go bankrupt, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation takes over their share, while the remaining contributers remain unaffected. For the most part, UPS is tired of subsidizing the floundering and notorious Central States Pension Fund, which consists of many trucking companies that have gone bankrupt over the years, and it has acted in the past as an ATM machine for corrupt Teamster officials.

[verity]

affect you and your guns.

LOL

[jrp]

Folks like you and I who plan and save for retirement are going to get taxed to subsidize those who didn't. You'll be considered wealthy because of your retirement nest egg and the income it generates. The guy next door, who spent every dime he made living the good life, will then help himself to your money using the ballot box. Remember, since we mostly abandoned the Constitution a while back, the primary activity of government has become transferring money from those who earned it to those who didn't.

[LIBERTARIAN JOE]

Remember, since we mostly abandoned the Constitution a while back, the primary activity of government has become transferring money from those who earned it to those who didn't

You're obviously astute enough to see the handwriting on the wall as far as where this country is headed. Plan accordingly... get your money out of the reach of those greedy politicians and their irresponsible enablers.

Personally, I'm 25-30 yrs from retirement. Long before then we will have reached a time when the leeches and parasites far outnumber the productive, self-reliant citizens. Think how bad it'll be when the politicians can completely abandon the pretense of representing us (as opposed to pretending to represent us while stealing us blind). The sucessful politician of the future will be the one that promises the masses the biggest bite of your hard-earned wealth.

I plan on either dropping dead on the job or emigrating to retire. Know of any free countries to move to?

[LoudRepublicangirl]

I have already started to believe that there will be an implosion when the middle class finally gets fed up.

[BlessedBeGod]

Our pensions were cut in half last fall. Nice to know I've worked for the company for over 18 years, just to have my pension reduced.

[LoudRepublicangirl]

It's already going on. The mindset of this nation is really sad and now it is filtering into the middle class-the attitude that the government will take care of them and that they don't have to worry about things like retirement or healthcare. These are some scary times we are living in and they are about to get scarier.

[LIBERTARIAN JOE]

Haven't you heard of "globalization"?

Good point! Gotta try something, though. Have heard good things about Costa Rica, but we all know what happens to small, defenseless countries that run afoul of DC

[Siamese Princess]

This is why I pay into a deferred Comp where I work. I already assumed there would be no social security and I don't assume that my pension will be waiting for me at retirement.

I agree. I've been at my place of work for over 18 years and I am promised a pension, but if and when I leave I'm taking the money rather than trust them to provide it. The older Baby Boomers will bankrupt Social Security and even the younger Boomers (such as myself) and everyone else will have to work until we drop. After that, we will be forced to rely on ourselves and our kids -- otherwise, we will be abandoned and perhaps euthanized.