Posted on 10/10/2018 8:35:25 AM PDT by Deo et patriae
I received letter from Xerox yesterday (10/09/2018) informing me they are canceling my retirement benefits (and not just me but many other retirees too) which are; Medical, Dental, Prescription Drugs, and my Life Insurance. I worked for Xerox 31 years with the goal in mind that I would have these benefits after I retired. I did, but now, when I need them the most they take them away from me. I was a Senior Engineering Technician in Corporate Research & Technology, in Webster, NY. Let this be a WARNING to people who are considering employment there.
Multiply that by millions when the government is broke and can’t pay Social Security payments, Medicare, Obamacare, food stamps, rent subsidies, free school lunches, etc etc etc.
Save your money while you can.
Doing what Kodak did
This is why defined benefit programs are a bad idea.
No company (and no government) can predict the future.
Those big companies weren’t planning on people living as long as they are.
They thought there would be a never ending chart of growth and enough workers to pay the benefits.
It’s bad that retirees are losing benefits, but how did companies not have the foresight to see that their plan was not sustainable?
If they’re not in bankruptcy and your contract terms don’t allow cancellation for perpetuity, sue them.
most companies relying on 401k now.
Very well said.
Trust us, trust us, believe us..... we will care for you...submit....obey....don’t resist....give us give us...
The only person you can really trust is yourself, and even there, not all the time...
I’m sorry to hear that. The big shots (the company executives, the union leaders, and the politicians) make one bad decision after another. But it’s always the 9-to-5 guys who pay the price.
Never love your company because it will never love you back.
Sorry to hear this happened to you. Best wishes for finding alternative arrangements that give you the care you and yours need.
Enron also comes to mind.
Pretty much all the coal and steel companies here around Pittsburgh did that years ago.
Retired Detroit cops and firefighters took an 80% whack to their pensions when the city filed bankruptcy.
Bottom line: Nobody can make a promise for what will happen thirty years into the future.
We just aren’t dying as young as we used to.
sorry to hear it. Hope you are old enough to take advantage of those benefits ( except life ins.) under Medicare.
My uncle worked forever for the Teamsters. He was notified that the retirement fund goes to zero 2025. Teamsters supplied an alternate plan to save the fund for a good while (basically a reduced retirement monthly amount). Obama’s people rejected it.
My son, who is in mid 30’s, fully vested in his retirement fund, found out his fund is no longer fully funded. He will eventually be in the same boat as my uncle.
I was whacked by my Fortune 50 company when I became Medicare eligible.
So sorry for your loss.
I didn’t know that American corps. give cradle to grave benefits! When you work for yourself or for small cos., you might have a 401k, but no dental, medical, life insurance.
Sounds overly generous and one would be smart to foresee the well runs dry for these kinds of programs. Our next national crisis will be just like your xerox shocker. There simply is not enough money to continue socialized medicine, social security, government pensions, etc.
I wish you the best, deo et patriae.
This is obviously a key marker and unless top management has proceeded in step with board recommendations, it is past time to fire some of them.
Hope the board also has been scaling back built-in exec management compensation/benefits in proportion to the average hit taken by a retiree. Selling off marginal operations, bonuses to only those that actually produce spikes in profits, etc. Otherwise, one would expect morale to plummet, loss of key players, etc., etc.
Good luck with this challenge! The mountains generally get steeper at the top.
I’d think they’d have a contractual obligation to pay them, unless bankrupt.
I mean they promised them to you as part of your payment as an employee.
I would never feel comfortable relying on any corporate entity for my future well-being, but being self employed I kind of don’t have a say in that.
Heck even 20+ year veterans or any state employee shouldn’t gamble everything anymore, look at what California, New York, and Illinois are facing in the next decade.
I am very sorry you are going through this. My prayers are with you.
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