Posted by
Republitarian on Thursday, April 05, 2007 2:13:26 PM
There's an old adage: When you want something done right, do it yourself. Why then, do millions of us leave our retirement planning to our employers? One would think that after tens of thousands of employees of ENRON, Worldcom, and United Airline Airlines saw their retirement savings dissapear overnight, we would know better. Then, of course, are those on the left who say that the corporate scandals are a perfect example of why government should take on this responsibility. This argument is typically presented in the opposition to 'privatizing' Social Security.
But check this out. The NY Times recently ran an article concerning the looming crisis (see link below) for the New Jersey teacher's pension plan. It seems that the state has not been upholding its promise to properly fund the teacher's pensions. Basically, they took the artificially inflated value of the fund back in 1999 and used it as 'seed money' to fund the plan in the early part of this decade. However, after the dot-com burst and the recession that followed 911, the artificial gains had dissapeared. During that time, the state made either very small contributions to the fund, or sometimes, no contribution at all!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/nyregion/04pension.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
I predict that New Jersey is not alone. The Government Accountability Offfice (GAO) is considering new actions requiring states to disclose their actions in funding pension plans. Other state governments that 'cooked the books' may find themselves in a similar situation as New Jersey. I know that Oregon's PERS (Public Employee Retirement System) has been under scrutiny for years and no substantial data has been made public.
To summarize, if you have any desire to retire comfortably, take matters into your own hands. Get a 401K or a few IRAs. Heck, stuff money in your mattress for all I care. But do not, under any circumstances, count on your employer (corporate or government) to fund your retirement.