tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post5368815904500318141..comments2023-11-22T04:27:07.521-06:00Comments on glen brown: "A new research report finds that the retirement savings levels of working age Americans remain deeply inadequate despite economic recovery"-National Institute on Retirement Securitygbrownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-20566155262495521722018-09-17T15:52:14.094-05:002018-09-17T15:52:14.094-05:00"...The truth is this: the concept of a do-it..."...The truth is this: the concept of a do-it-yourself retirement (401(k)s) [is] a fraud. It [is] a fraud because to expect people to save up enough money to see themselves through a 20- or 30-year retirement [is] a dubious proposition in the best of circumstances. It [is] a fraud because it allow[s] hustlers in the financial sector to prey on ordinary people with little knowledge of sophisticated financial instruments and schemes.<br /><br />"And it [is] a fraud because the mainstream media, which increasingly relies on the advertising dollars of the personal finance industry, [sells] expensive lies to an unsuspecting public. When combined with stagnating salaries, rising expenses and a stock market that [does] not perform like Rumpelstiltskin and spin straw into gold, do-it-yourself retirement [is] all but guaranteed to lead future generations of Americans to a financially insecure old age. And so it [will]" (401 K's are a Sham). https://www.salon.com/2013/08/06/big_finance_lied_401ks_will_not_save_aging_americans_partner/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow)<br />gbrownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-3080489786141476282018-09-17T15:49:47.713-05:002018-09-17T15:49:47.713-05:00A Defined-Benefit Pension Plan:
You cannot outliv...A Defined-Benefit Pension Plan:<br /><br />You cannot outlive your benefit. <br /><br />Your defined-benefit pension plan is more cost efficient than the defined-contribution savings plan. <br /><br />Your defined-benefit pension plan offers predictable, guaranteed monthly benefits for life. <br /><br />Funds are invested by professional asset managers in a diversified portfolio that follows long-term investment strategies. The large-pooled assets reduce asset management and miscellaneous fees. <br /><br />Your defined-benefit pension plan provides spousal (survivor) financial benefits. <br /><br />Your defined-benefit pension plan provides disability benefits. <br /><br />The State is responsible for funding, investment, inflationary and longevity risks. <br /><br />Because you are not affected by Market volatility, your defined-benefit pension plan is a more effective protection than the defined-contribution savings plan. <br /><br />Because teachers and other public employees understand the value of such a plan, they are willing to give up higher wages. <br /><br />A defined-benefit plan encourages a long-term career and stable workforce. <br /><br />Your defined-benefit pension plan provides you with self-sufficiency in retirement; it is associated with far fewer households that experience food privation, shelter adversity and health-care hardship. <br /><br />Your defined-benefit pension plan is less expensive for taxpayers than Social Security – a reason why legislators, et al. had negotiated for Illinois teachers to not pay into Social Security. <br /><br />Your defined-benefit pension plan has an economic impact of over $4 billion on Illinois; the effect on Gross Domestic Product is $2.38 billion; jobs that are created: 30,448 (Teachers Retirement System of Illinois, TRS). <br /><br />Defined-benefit pension plans contribute over $100 billion to annual local, state, and federal revenue in the U.S. and provide capital to financial markets (NIRS).<br /><br />Sources: the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS), Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the Teachers Retirement System of Illinois (TRS) gbrownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1797875972831999598.post-85290627789399799072018-09-17T15:48:37.856-05:002018-09-17T15:48:37.856-05:00A Defined-Contribution Savings Plan:
A defined-co...A Defined-Contribution Savings Plan:<br /><br />A defined-contribution savings plan (401(k), 403(b), 457) was not initially created as a retirement vehicle but rather as a supplementary savings account. <br /><br />A defined-contribution savings plan shifts all the responsibilities and all of the risk from the employer to you; thus, your benefit is not guaranteed for life. <br /><br />Your benefit ceases when your account is exhausted. There are no survivor or disability benefits and guarantees. <br /><br />Your benefit is based upon individual investment earnings. You assume all funding, investment fees, and inflationary and longevity risks. <br /><br />A defined-contribution savings plan does not have the pooled investments, professional asset managers, and shared administrative costs that a defined-benefit pension plan provides. <br /><br />Though you bear no portability risks, accounts are not always rolled over when you change jobs. Changeover costs to this plan could be significant. <br /><br />Your employer (state) will have to bear the administrative costs of both defined-benefit pension and defined-contribution savings plans when you switch over. <br /><br />“Payments to amortize unfunded liabilities for the defined-benefit pension plan may be accelerated” (National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS). <br /><br />The Governmental Accounting Standards Board “requires [an] acceleration of unfunded liability payments when the defined-benefit pension plan is closed to be recognized on financial statements” (NIRS). <br /><br />“No unfunded obligations [liabilities] for existing members are reduced when new members go into a defined-contribution savings plan” (NIRS). <br /><br />“The loss of new members makes it difficult to finance the unfunded obligations of the defined-benefit pension plan” (NIRS). <br /><br />The State will not save money. Most of the State’s obligation to the Teachers' Retirement System of Illinois, for instance, is for contributions not paid during the past several decades; therefore, the deferred cost of underfunding cannot be eliminated by switching to a defined-contribution savings plan. <br /><br />Shifting to a defined-contribution savings plan can raise annual costs by making it more difficult for a State to pay down existing liabilities. The plan will include fewer employees and fewer contributions going forward. Even with a defined-contribution savings plan option, states and localities are still left to deal with past underfunding. <br /><br />There is a several trillion dollar deficit between what 401(k) account holders should have and what they actually have.<br />gbrownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13435049339082622611noreply@blogger.com