Suspending the 401(k) Match, Keeping a Pension

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albernlink of FL 12:07AM November 13, 2009

Kenny of AL is frightening.

Olivia Brown of MS 3:06PM September 16, 2009

The Folks who should be in PRISON... Barney Frank and Chris Dodd!!! Franklin Reins... ACORN and Barak OBAMA for Forcing Banks to loan TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO FOLKS WHO COULD NOT PAY THEM BACK!!

kenny of AL 11:39PM July 09, 2009

Mike, I couldn't agree more with many of your points.
Individual savings accounts were supposed to provide riches for us in retirement, instead they made 401(k) service providers rich in fees, before the market tanked. Most people lost 40% or more of their nest eggs. I'm a young worker who eventually may recoup my losses, but what of my mom who is 59 this month? How will she supplement her Social Security?
We have to get back to basics, we need Social Security, a traditional pension--or something close to it--that provide for monthly retirement income that you can't outlive, AND individual savings in investment vehicles that are low fee and low/moderate risk. Few people are going to get "rich" in retirement on this model, but fewer still will fall through the cracks. Congress and the feds spent the last 20 years propping up the 401(k) industry and the average near retiree has $20,000 in their accounts to show for it. We can and must do better.
Conversely, the average public employee receives around $20,000 annually if they are covered by a traditional pension. Pensions in the public sector are paid for by investment returns (professionally invested), employee contributions and employer contributions. Don't get me wrong, public pensions lost money too, but not near as much as the average person with a 401(k), and these losses were spread across all participants so that those who are near retirement won't have their retirement income pulled out from under them.

DB Lady of VA 4:02PM July 09, 2009

It is not surprising that Corporations are doing away with retirement benefits. Employees have no rights, Employees feel they are being run over by Corporate Human Resources, the laws to protect employees have been nearly eliminated or water downed as are meaningless, the courts find in favor of Corporations, they routinely shut down plants and move them to third world countries resulting in huge profit for the benefit of the executives, while the USA has 20 million unemployeed and 20 million Illegal Aliens taking our jobs away.
It was interesting to hear the response to the "father of the 401K" say, gee, with the bond market down and the stock market down, my 401K lost 30%. Duhhh.
The 401K is a sham retirement plan. IRA's are sham retirmement plans.
The old "put money into a huge pot, so everyone benefits, like life insurance, is the best plan out there, the old Defined Benefit plan". A basic benefit is that if someone who is being paid by the DB plan, he dies, his wife gets 50% default value, she dies, if there is any left over, the remaining survivors of the DB plan, receive some of the others, who are deceased. Kinda like Social Security and the defined benefit plan of our elected officials. I notice those in charge of making laws for the benefit of the people are not doing so, and keeping their DB plans. Amazing. Boy, are we stupid.
I guess it will take bag ladies, tent city revivals, and crime for the average american to realize how bad the 401K plan really is.

Mike of UT 7:45AM July 09, 2009