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News You Should Know is a digest of news from publications around the nation about finance, investing, and retirement.
Defined benefitAlso known as a pension, this is a type of pooled retirement plan in which the plan promises to pay a lifetime benefit to the employee at retirement. The plan manages investments on behalf of members, and the retirement benefit is based on factors such as age at retirement, years of employment and salary history.
The UAW went on strike over the two-tier retirement system that reduced benefits under their real DB plans. However, IBM is proposing a poor DB plan by lowering their DC plan match, ‘cuz in a high-interest environment it makes more economic sense than to continue the match.
Although I appreciate PERA posting this story about private sector employers seeing the value in DB plans (verses DC plans?); it’s rather incongruous that PERA offers a hybrid-plan and awarded Empower our 401 (k) & 457 (b) plans to administer poor selections; and let’s face it the state would love to wash their hands of the PERA DB plan (as evident by how they stole retirees’ COLA).
One of the main benefits of a state DB plan (besides the obvious value in recruitment and retention), is when employees were on a grade and step (year) pay schedule it was easy to extrapolate and budget for compensation (including retirement benefits). However, in the 90’s the legislature started peddling “pay for performance” (P4P). P4P was never funded, except for when it enjoyed some use (funded by lay-offs, hiring & pay raise freezes for the rank and file) as a vehicle to reward brown-nosed upper management with raises, to circumvented personnel rules. Senior Executive Service employees, political appointments, the odd athletic director or coach, college administrators, most of the Personnel Department, and judiciary members who were in on the P4P scam are the reason PERA may be paying excessive benefits (if in fact the upper tier of recipients are as top-heavy as I suspect).
Returning to the private sector offering DB plans… right, they’re doing it out of the goodness of their hearts or because they love their workers. The only reason any new DB plans (or legacy ones) exist is because workers organize and demand it! Wait until state employees get organized under a real union, if that day comes then politicians will have wished they kept the PERA plan they promised, because they won’t be able to afford to pay workers. Then again, maybe lawmakers are banking on eliminating all public servants through artificial intelligence (they could start with the General Assembly).
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and from the statehouse,
Thirteen years sans COLA, for inflation to douse;
“Automatic Adjustment Provision” I fear,
“AAP” as it’s known, again it is here;
Markets surged all through the year, thanks to the feds;
But one percent increases, ain’t that much bread;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I with the “cap,”
We’re afraid to accept a PER-A dirt nap;
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a slew of seniors, in an election year.
With a one percent “A-A-P,” hardly worth dick,
I knew in a moment they were done getting nicked!
More voters than teachers, to caucus they came,
And they whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
“Now, Speaker! and, Pro Temp.! now Duran and Jodeh!
Shannon, don’t give us the bird, Lindsay and Bacon!
To the top of the dome! Upon fiscal footnote walls!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So, the statehouse DINOs, the grifters, they flew
by sleight-of-hand and cooked books, crying TABOR too–
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
Pols prying-off gold, to display their greed’s proof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down Grant St., retirees came with a bound.
They were all cold, wearing rags, and worn-out boots,
And their clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bunch of grievances, they came to unpack.
And they looked pretty mad, you’d think they’d attack.
Their eyes–how they squinted! Their ailments, many!
Their knees were a-creekin’, walkers placed squarely.
Marching they coughed out a chant of “Justus” now!
And the picket signs showed they’re ready for a row;
The stump of a pipe and rocks hid by a wreath,
smoke from their ears and little to lose (like their teeth);
Means Broadway could become a traffic jammed riot,
As they shake when they drive, and worse when they park-it.
We’re hungry, and eat, cuz’ we don’t do much else,
And I cry when I think, some say, “Go feed yourself;”
Some of TABOR rebate could get us ahead?
Sooner than later would help before we’re all dead!
But crickets from lawmakers just doesn’t work,
Stocking-covered faces hide eyes of a jerk,
All we get is the finger while being hosed,
A true fair COLA, is all we propose;
But get elder abuse for blowing the whistle.
It shows pols can rob more with a pen than a pistol;
In part ‘cuz they don’t expect we’ll last the night–
“Happy New Year to all, and let’s give ’em a fight!”