AAUP Academe May-June 2018 As I approached age sixty-five after thirty-seven years of university teaching, I took stock of what my retirement income would look like. Many retirement experts claim that at least 70 percent of preretirement income is necessary to maintain one’s standard of living. For example, someone whose final annual income will be $100,000Continue reading “Autopsy of a Retirement Plan”
Category Archives: 401(k) type Plans
Retirement Savings Plan for Private Workers Only Partial Solution
Hartford Courant April 30, 2016 The Connecticut House just passed a bill to mandate that employers who don’t have retirement plans for their workers participate in a new state-sponsored plan, essentially a public IRA, which gives workers the option of saving for retirement. The Senate should pass the bill and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy shouldContinue reading “Retirement Savings Plan for Private Workers Only Partial Solution”
Don’t Go After Military Pensions
By DARRELL DRIVER, JIN PAK and KYLE JETTE New York Times December 27, 2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/opinion/military-pensions-are-essential.html?_r=1 Washington AS the nation’s budget pressures prompt officials to scour the Defense Department for cuts, one tantalizing target is the military retirement system. The Pentagon has reportedly been considering replacing the guaranteed pension that, for more than a century, hasContinue reading “Don’t Go After Military Pensions”
Security Plus Annuities – A Bad Idea
The Aspen Institute recommends establishing “Security Plus Annuities†to supplement Social Security benefits, an idea endorsed by Richard H. Thaler, a University of Chicago economics professor with ties to the financial services industry, in the New York Times (“Getting the Most Out of Social Security,†July 16, 2011). The idea is that individuals would be ableContinue reading “Security Plus Annuities – A Bad Idea”
Why 401(k)s Failed
As Boomers are preparing to retire, the news is full of stories about how their 401(k) plans are coming up short. Most of the stories imply that it’s the Boomers own fault for not saving enough. That explanation, though, grossly distorts the cause of the growing retirement crisis in the United States that was fueledContinue reading “Why 401(k)s Failed”
“Get Radical: Raise, Don’t Save, Social Security†by Thomas Geoghegan—New York Times op-ed article.
Thomas Geohegan’s “Get Radical: Raise, Don’t Save, Social Security†(New York Times, June 19, 2011) eloquently makes the argument that Social Security revenues and benefits both need to be raised, especially since 401(k)s have failed to provide sufficient retirement income.
Guest Post: Defined-Contribution Plan v. Defined-Benefit Plan by Glen Brown
 With a few exceptions, Defined-Contribution Plans were not initially created as retirement vehicles but rather as supplementary savings accounts  With a Defined-Contribution Plan (401k, 403b, 457), only your contributions are defined  A Defined-Contribution Plan shifts all the responsibilities and all the risk from the employer to the employee; thus, your benefit isContinue reading “Guest Post: Defined-Contribution Plan v. Defined-Benefit Plan by Glen Brown”
“Shedding Light on Excessive 401(k) Fees†– New York Times article
Ron Lieber’s “Shedding Light on Excessive 401(k) Fees†(New York Times, June 3, 2011) provides a useful concise introduction to the myriad fees embedded in 401(k) and other private retirement investment plans and how they add up to substantial losses for participants. It is important though to note that even if courts or Congress findContinue reading ““Shedding Light on Excessive 401(k) Fees†– New York Times article”
The Hammer and Anvil: Older Workers Pressured to Retire Despite 401(k) Crisis
In “Easing Out the Gray-Haired,†Nelson D. Schwartz (New York Times, May 28, 2011) describes the problem that law firms and other businesses have when older  workers resist retiring after their productivity has begun to decline. It is in the interest of the firms, according to the article, to replace them with younger, more productiveContinue reading “The Hammer and Anvil: Older Workers Pressured to Retire Despite 401(k) Crisis”
From Connecticut to Chile: The Neo-Liberal Assault on Retirement Security (article)
Reposted from This Week in Sociology, April 4-10, 2011, edition 3 http://www.thisweekinsociology.com/ Since 1981 shaky 401(k) schemes that depend on stock market investing have increasingly replaced secure, traditional pensions in the United States. The financial services industry encourages a belief that these schemes produce generous benefits. But 30 years after their introduction, the first generationContinue reading “From Connecticut to Chile: The Neo-Liberal Assault on Retirement Security (article)”