----- Original Message ----- From: "JDG" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Killer Bs Discussion" <brin-l@mccmedia.com> Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2005 9:05 PM Subject: Re: US Pensions
> When a worker relies upon an employer's pension plan, that worker is > essentially putting his or her savings nest egg in the same basket as his > or her income egg, and handing the basket into the competent (or > incompetent as the case may be) hands of his or hers managers. Pardon my > bluntness here, but this system is just plain stupid. Or at the very > least, stupidly risky. You know, back when I started working, it wasn't. Companies are/were legally oblidged to fund their pensions on an as-you-go basis. But, businesses were able to buy (sorry lobby for) a change in the law that allowed them to siphon money from the pensions, claiming they were "tremendously overfunded." So, they got the law changed to reflect some, shall we say, creative bookeeping. As a result, many pension plans are now terribly underfunded. > (Although considering another significant aspect of our retirement system > involves taxing the poor to write checks for the rich, employer pension > plans may look almost sane by comparison. But I digress....) If the money were spent to fund SS instead of paying for part of Bush's tax cuts, that wouldn't be the case. Look at the taxes _and_ the benefits and see if, on average, SS is progressive or regressive. Dan M. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
