4 ms·

Good for them that they have pensions. The problem is that most workers don't have pensions anymore, not that pensions are bad. 401k's are a terrible retirement

Good for them that they have pensions. The problem is that most workers don't have pensions anymore, not that pensions are bad. 401k's are a terrible retirement strategy for folks that are not pulling in serious money. The median 401k balance at retirement (65 or over) is $87k.

ch4s3 4y ago
Really? They’re bankrupting a lot of small and midsize cities by lobbying for increases in pensions that the funding structures can’t bare. The police engage in illegal work slow downs when they don’t get them or reformers get elected, and regular tax payers are stuck with the bill and degrades services.
scarface74 4y ago
And surprisingly enough, old people aren’t dying on the streets for the most part. There is still social security.
listenallyall 4y ago
I suspect your reading comprehension is poor. The poster above me was saying he "cringes" at pensions, I was demonstrating that they are quite generous and likely far superior, from the perspective of the retiree, than what a 401-k will provide.
- notfromhere 4y ago
  Reconsider yours when I'm not actually disagreeing with you.
- scarface74 4y ago
  And how many private companies could afford to be as generous as the government who can basically raise taxes without anyone being able to do anything about it?
gameman144 4y ago
> 401k's are a terrible retirement strategy for folks that are not pulling in serious money. Plugging samples into any 401k calculator seems to disagree here: even folks making twenty dollars an hour would have a few hundred thousand dollars by retirement age if they squirreled away the recommended 5-10% of their salary. One could make the case that workers aren't able to save that much, but either way it seems pretty clear that the issue is that for one reason or another people aren't saving enough. This seems like looking at the obesity epidemic and saying "Exercise is a terrible strategy for most people, the average retirement BMI is 25" -- the strategy itself is fine, people just aren't executing it (for whatever reason)

ch4s3 4y ago

Really? They’re bankrupting a lot of small and midsize cities by lobbying for increases in pensions that the funding structures can’t bare. The police engage in illegal work slow downs when they don’t get them or reformers get elected, and regular tax payers are stuck with the bill and degrades services.

scarface74 4y ago

And surprisingly enough, old people aren’t dying on the streets for the most part. There is still social security.

listenallyall 4y ago

I suspect your reading comprehension is poor. The poster above me was saying he "cringes" at pensions, I was demonstrating that they are quite generous and likely far superior, from the perspective of the retiree, than what a 401-k will provide.

notfromhere 4y ago
Reconsider yours when I'm not actually disagreeing with you.
scarface74 4y ago
And how many private companies could afford to be as generous as the government who can basically raise taxes without anyone being able to do anything about it?

gameman144 4y ago

> 401k's are a terrible retirement strategy for folks that are not pulling in serious money. Plugging samples into any 401k calculator seems to disagree here: even folks making twenty dollars an hour would have a few hundred thousand dollars by retirement age if they squirreled away the recommended 5-10% of their salary. One could make the case that workers aren't able to save that much, but either way it seems pretty clear that the issue is that for one reason or another people aren't saving enough. This seems like looking at the obesity epidemic and saying "Exercise is a terrible strategy for most people, the average retirement BMI is 25" -- the strategy itself is fine, people just aren't executing it (for whatever reason)