You citizens of the Districts have no idea how we in the Capital have suffered.
Posted on 12/12/2013 3:09:04 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
You are right, but think of this. If Salon is against this bill it HAS to be horrific.
It is compulsory in about the sense that breathing is. The government is broke. It is running serial deficits. Unless you expect them to simply print money to pay for those pensions(which due to inflation would make the pensions worthless), it has to come from somewhere, and it doesn’t particularly bother me if it happens to be from the people who directly benefit from the pensions.
Alternatively taxpayers can be put on the hook for this, and the general consensus among the taxpayers here is that they are on enough hooks already.
Though actually compulsory is one of the more hyperbolic claims. Nobody has those federal employees chained to a desk, slaving away at out behest. They are perfectly free to go find a job in the private sector where they could generate wealth rather than consume it.
You citizens of the Districts have no idea how we in the Capital have suffered.
Let me see if I have this straight: “...would have raised the employee contribution in three stages, from 0.8 percent of salary to 2 percent.”
This “news” story is whining about federal employees — employees paid out of taxpayers’ pockets — having to contribute 2 PERCENT to their retirement?!?!?!?!
I was paying five percent in 1972, fer cryin’ out loud.
ESAD, whiners...
It's only compulsory because this is a defined-benefit pension fund, not a self-directed IRA or 401(k) plan. If your employer is responsible for managing your pension, then the employer has a lot of control over what you contribute.
Social Security "contributions" are a tax. A pension contribution is not.
Time to go find a real job, if you don’t like your federal feather bed. But don’t be surprised when you find there are none paying what you are getting now and that virtually all of them will require you to pay more for your fat retirement plan, the best in the nation.
Good luck on trying to find sympathy from the millions who have lost their jobs and can’t find another, or those who have been forced into part time jobs with less than 30 hours because of ObamaCare. Everyone knows the five wealthiest counties in America are clustered around Washington D.C. for a reason.
And the WaPo thinks I feel bad for federal employees? Really? Screw all of the bloody useless leeches and parasites that most of them are.
Salon, not WaPo. Got my Obama mouthpieces mixed up there...
They aren’t putting money away for their retirement and that is the crux of the whole problem. They are getting a defined benefit in retirement. They do not contribute to a 401K or similar pension program. If anyone was serious about cutting the cost of government new hires would all be on a defined contribution system. You can call these proposed cuts a paycut or a tax increase, but you cannot truthfully say they are an increase to retirement contributions.
So my 401K contributions to my retirement account should be considered “pay cuts”? Boy have I been getting ripped off!
IOW, where can you work where your 401k contribution is matched 100% up to the first 10% of your salary?
P.S. I think a 401(k) is only for private companies, so I'm guessing the Federal version of this is something different -- maybe a 403(b)?
Actually the opposite is usually true. If salon is against a bill it’s a good one. In this case they are railing against pension reform...but that’s the good part of the bill.
not even close to the same. It is more like if your company changed your benefit package. Most companies went away from this model long ago.
The Federal Workers Alliance notes that the average annual pension benefit for federal employees is just $12,800 per year
I call that, absolute BS
IOW, where can you work where your 401k contribution is matched 100% up to the first 10% of your salary?
My daughter works for the local sheriff’s office. They match at (this is gonna be hard to believe) at 250%, plus a guarantee of 7% interest. I did the numbers and told her, I’m not sure if the politicians (and yes this is Texas) know that this is way better than if you even had a defined plan. She must be vested at 8 yrs. The only good thing this plan has vs defined is that there is only a 7% payment after you no longer work there BUT when I ran the numbers, if she saves $1,000,000 before retirement which will be easy as she’s only 26, they’ll be paying out $70K per year just in interest alone. I asked her if she can max it out and she said no, everyone contributes 6%. If you leave before 8yrs you only get back what you put in but if you stay on it I very very lucrative.
I believe they are separated based on hire dates: there's an "old system" and a "new" system. My wife opted for the old system when the feds moved toward the defined contribution plan.
When I accepted a term contract a few years ago, I was limited to the 401k (with the match...a no-brainer). I'm also paying back additional money to "buy back" my military years to increase my annuity later on.
I don't pay that much attention to the various plans, all that reading makes my head hurt...lol.
Yes, I will be one of those evil "double dippers", drawing SS and a (small, very small) federal pension. However, I've paid in to SS for 30+ years, and I'm following the rules on the other plan.
Major disconnect between the headline and the article.
I thought this was another story about Theresa Ghilarducci and that long rumored plan for the Feds to help themselves to our 401K.
Instead it’s about a bunch of government union workers whining about a tiny cut to their pensions.
Thanks. That’s how it is to some extent with management in general, no accountability. If a guy in the trench makes a minor mistake he’s held accountable yet managers can make major mistakes with none of their fellow managers batting an eye. Those managers live by the motto; “Beatings will continue until moral improves.” about the guys in the trenches. You can substitute safety or other words for moral. The double standard is nauseating.
Pay cuts and adjustments to pension funding is not the solution.
The solution is to DownSize DC! Close entire Rogue/Unconstitutional Departments. Move any worthwhile functions back to the States. Get the Fed Monster out of our lives except for what is constitutionally authorized and makes sense.
This is the only path out of this mess.
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