Pensions need to change.....are you ready for change...???

[Sourdough]

The time for change is now.......and pensions are extremely underfunded world wide.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/ny...v&ref=nyregion

[crashdive123]

They absolutely need to change. In my mind, this is the biggest reason for doing away with public sector (not private) union collective bargaining rights. In the private sector union representatives and company representatives sit down and hammer out agreements. If the company makes bad choices - they go out of business. (yeah, I know about pension bail outs) In the public sector however, union representatives sit down with government officials hand hammer out agreements. The HUGE difference is that we, the taxpayers do not get a seat at the table (we pay the bills) and the unions can threaten politicians with the possibility of working against them (with our money) in the next election.

IMO these public sector pensions, to which the vast majority of public sector employees contribute nothing (99% of them I believe) need to be in a 401K type program. The existing ones are just not sustainable.

[hunter63]

I have to agree, and I did try bringing this up in a post about several senators leaving Wisconsin to block a bill that was gonna do just that.

The thread was removed and I was told it was political.
Just saying.........

[SARKY]

Now, one question, Are you lumping military retirement in there as well?

[Sourdough]

Now, one question, Are you lumping military retirement in there as well?

Sadly if the entity backing any pension is insolvent, the quality of the pension payment is questionable. This a good time in history to be 88 years old, it is a poor time in history to be 50'something counting on a pension or retirement program. All I am advocating is be aware.

[crashdive123]

Now, one question, Are you lumping military retirement in there as well?

If financial reforms are not made there will be no military retirement along with no social security and other programs that people have come to depend on.

[crashdive123]

I have to agree, and I did try bringing this up in a post about several senators leaving Wisconsin to block a bill that was gonna do just that.

The thread was removed and I was told it was political.
Just saying.........

I don't think I saw that thread or discussions, but IMO what was done (removing some of the collective bargaining rights) was spot on. If people started talking about one party leaving and the other party doing x, then I can see why it may have been removed. The fact that reform needs to take place is not political, but rather a matter that is a big part of survival (IMO of course).

[Alaskan Survivalist]

I will only speak to what I have seen. When the Unions were tied to organized crime they could only steal so much. Those were the good old days. When the unions went to bed with the politicians theft became legal. Pensions need to be funded as if each person would be able to jump through all the hoops to reach retirement. This is not the case for most. In my Union you can also add the funding levels of 3000 ghost members that appear on the pension reports but not on the unions LM-2 report. I have read the resent pension reform act which was actually started under President Bush in 2006 and signed by president Obama. Globalists are in both parties. It states that pensions must be funded to 140 percent thier already inflated liabilty levels. It gives the unions great authority to sqeeze companies for money the members will never see. The amount of contributions cannot be reduced and must be raised to the new imposed funding levels. The union pensions will get rich all the time claiming how broke they are. This is not just a one way street all in favor of corrupt union officials. They have had to accept the authority of a government burocracy that can change policy without any oversight. I probably have a few good years left in me but I took an early retirement rather than take the huge hit these lying, theiving bastards are getting away with. There is no fixing this policy and they only way to get out of it is to go non-union. I have been a Teamster for 38 years and one of the loudest labor activists you'd ever meet. Chronyism is not unionism. The unions are dead but the polticians and thieves are doing fine. One of the best kept secrets is the members of each bargaining unit have the power not the union officers.

[Ole WV Coot]

Must be nice to have a pension to grip about. That's something I don't have to worry about from my former employer. I took a buyout and a little extra they kicked in just to get rid of me. I had a few basic licenses like master electrician, CDL and a few others so I depended on me and investments. I have been retired for 15yrs and haven't worked for cash the last 10. I knew that I couldn't depend 100% on anyone but me. I still have decent insurance but don't know how long that will last. Like any part of survival it comes down to one thing and that's the only thing you can depend on is yourself and yes I am better off today than I was when I retired. Rule 1 for me is depend on yourself first and last.

[Sourdough]

Well said, Coot. Very well said. Rep sent.

[Sourdough]

"Like the circles that you find, in the windmills of your mind"

http://www.businessinsider.com/irela...loyment-2011-6