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: Defined Benefit Pension 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”
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”
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)”
From Connecticut to Chile: The Neo-Liberal Assault on Retirement Security (video)
You Tube video of James W. Russell speaking at the Left Forum, Pace University, New York City, March 19, 2011. Click here.
Bad Timing of Investments Harms 401(k)s and Pension Funds
There is an interesting graphic on investment returns in the January 2 New York Times, titled In Investing, It’s When You Start and When You Finish. Thanks to Nat Trumbull for pointing this out to me. It indicates one of the reasons why 401(k)s have done so poorly. I would argue, though, that even withContinue reading “Bad Timing of Investments Harms 401(k)s and Pension Funds”
The Retirement Crisis and This Blog
The Perfect Swindle is about understanding and finding solutions to the growing retirement crisis facing tens of millions of Americans. Since 1981 shaky 401(k) schemes that depend on stock market investing have increasingly replaced secure, traditional pensions. The financial services industry encourages the belief that these schemes will produce generous benefits. But 30 years afterContinue reading “The Retirement Crisis and This Blog”