Retirement thoughts Past Present Future

[MossRoad]

Aren't pensions in private industry about as rare as hen's teeth these days? (Excluding unions)

Kinda. However, 401K's with employer matching are very common now. A plus of that is you can leave it with our old employer, roll it into a new employer's 401K if available, roll it into an IRA, things like that. A pension stays with the old company until you either hit retirement age or they offer you a lump sum payout ( that happened to me).

 

[Snobdds]

Is that an intentional pun?

You get what you get when I write. My secretary did not proof read it for me...

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I submitted several puns to try to see if one would get selected to be used. No pun in ten did.

 

[Snobdds]

Aren't pensions in private industry about as rare as hen's teeth these days? (Excluding unions)

Yes. My company did an employee engagment survey in 2015 to see if new hires want more benefits than pay. At the time, they liked the exchange for better benefits than higher pay, but they wanted the pension plan to be more transferable to a 401k if someone left employment. So they made that change.

In 2022 another employee engagement survey was done and far and away the younger people in the work force wanted as much take home pay as possible versus good benefits. So we implemented a choice program where you could stay on the old grandfathered pension plan where the employer hires an fiduciary or forgo that and maximize the take home pay and they are responsible for all retirement planning. Young people overwhelmingly took the higher pay. They have no eye on the future and only live for the now. They all seem to buy a nice car as soon as the money hits.

I don't know if they are dumb because there are a lot of smart young people, it's just I don't think they have ever had exposure to financial literacy teachings. I am fascinated by how young people have no faith in the long term viability of the US and their mentality is to get it when the getting is good.

 

[JethroB]

At my last employer before retiring we too had a difficult time getting rank & file employees to recognize the value of the profit sharing / 401k retirement plan. They wanted the cash.

When I took over as plan administrator the employee directEd accounts were 62% in a money market fund. ($14M of $23M ). ERISA/DOL would have had a fit. Got that down to a few percent after a year.

 

[RustyA]

Back in the "good old days" of one breadwinner in the family we lived in a 900 sq ft 50 year old house. One bathroom, no AC two gas floor stoves and no garage. Dad drove a 5 year old used car, we got clothes from thrift stores, had two pairs of shoes, one TV with no cable, one phone in the kitchen. There are not many people today that could live that lifestyle.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Bringing in unskilled labor that undercut wages and put strain on social services is not the immigration we want.

What's your definition of "unskilled?" It sounds like you equate it to "unnecessary." Those businesses don't really need workers, do they?

 

[Larry Caldwell]

To bring this back around to retirement, secret immigrants are a great way to get work done that is difficult as you age. Maria cleans the house. Jesus does the yard work. If you pay them in cash, who is to know? As for their immigration status, don't ask, don't tell.

 

[Snobdds]

What's your definition of "unskilled?" It sounds like you equate it to "unnecessary." Those businesses don't really need workers, do they?

My definition tracks closely with the definition we learned in first year economic classes. A worker who can only work under the table due to undocumented status, and therefore has to utilize social services to survive.

They are not handing out work visas on the southern boarder, so how do these people survive in a society that requires documentation for everything? I find it cruel to allow people in that are all going to be competing for the limited under the table work.

Immigration was a breeze when society had no tracking mechanism. Today...good luck. It's better to do it correctly, therefore thriving and assimilating into society with all it's benefits.

 

[Snobdds]

To bring this back around to retirement, secret immigrants are a great way to get work done that is difficult as you age. Maria cleans the house. Jesus does the yard work. If you pay them in cash, who is to know? As for their immigration status, don't ask, don't tell.

That is cruel world view you have for Maria. You get all the benefits of cheap labor while she suffers for your pleasure in the shadows of society.