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Historically, pension benefits were one of the main benefits unions fought for (and won) so that their members could have an income in their old age and retire.
by ForHackernews 7y ago
Historically, pension benefits were one of the main benefits unions fought for (and won) so that their members could have an income in their old age and retire.
Today, very few workers still have pensions, but the few that do tend to be those represented by a union. In many states, this includes government employees: teachers, firefighters, police, etc.
- chrisseaton 7y ago> Today, very few workers still have pensions I've never seen a professional job that didn't include a pension - certainly not in the tech industry.
- wikibob 7y agoAre you in the USA? Pensions are defined benefit. That is, it is specified exactly how much money you will receive in retirement. A 401K retirement plan is not a pension. You save your own money and possibly an employer contribution, and you make your own investment decisions. The value goes up and down in accordance with what you invested in.
- chrisseaton 7y ago> A 401K retirement plan is not a pension. Are we both talking about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/401(k) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/401(k)? "In the United States, a 401(k) plan is the tax-qualified, defined-contribution pension"
- Loughla 7y agoDefined contribution (401k) is not the same as defined benefit (pension).
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- beefalo 7y agoHere have you seen a pension in the tech industry? 401ks are ubiquitous but no modern companies offer pensions
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- jgwil2 7y agoWhy are you going all up and down this thread trying to pedantically show that people are using the term "pension" slightly differently to Wikipedia's definition? It's not contributing anything to the discussion.
- chrisseaton 7y agoWell I just don’t get it. People say ‘nobody gets a pension anymore’ but a 401(k) is just a different type of pension. My defines benefit savings plans literally say ‘pension’ in the product names.
- ryan93 7y agoThe state pensions have no risk. They get a guaranteed payout regardless of stock market performance. The difference comes out of taxpayer pockets. With a 401k if the stock market crashes you are out of lock. The taxpayers won’t chip in the difference
- klipt 7y agoAnd everyone else has 401ks which also suffer in a crisis, but the federal government can't bail out red state 401ks without also helping blue state 401ks, so in that sense 401ks are safer than pensions.
- ForHackernews 7y agoI don't even know what it would mean to "bail out" a 401(k). By definition you, the employee, are exposed to all the market risk. If you happen to reach retirement age in a down market, you're kinda just screwed. Should've made better investment choices 15 years ago. This is why traditional pensions were usually a better deal for most employees.
- klipt 7y ago> I don't even know what it would mean to "bail out" a 401(k). By definition you, the employee, are exposed to all the market risk. Exactly it means juicing the stock market, which the fed can do by lowering interest rates etc. > If you happen to reach retirement age in a down market, you're kinda just screwed. That's why you're supposed to allocate more of your money to bonds as you approach retirement.