Worst deal ever!
Posted on 12/24/2008 10:25:35 AM PST by jimbo123
Starbucks Corp. told employees the company will no longer guarantee that it will make a company match to their 401(k) accounts next year.
In a letter to employees sent last week, the coffee giant said it will switch to a "fully discretionary match" from a "fixed employer match" starting Jan. 1 for employees "future roast" retirement savings plans. That means the company can decide whether or not to make matching contributions to participants in the retirement plan for future years. The Wall Street Journal reviewed the letter and the company confirmed it.
"In order to invest and grow responsibly and profitably for the long term, we need to use our benefit dollars in a way that provides the most value to the greatest number of" employees, the letter says.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
We’re doing the same thing here.
Is there anyone at Starbucks other than the corporate executives who are there for the 401K plan?
SCHULTZ, HOWARD
SEATTLE,WA 98112 STARBUCKS COFFEE CO 10/18/00 $50,000 DNC/Non-Federal Individual (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD
SEATTLE,WA 98112 STARBUCKS COFFEE CO 9/18/96 $15,000 Democratic National Committee
SCHULTZ, HOWARD
SEATTLE,WA 98112 STARBUCKS COFFEE CO 6/28/96 $5,000 Democratic National Committee
SCHULTZ, HOWARD
SEATTLE,WA 98198 STARBUCKS COFFEE 6/30/07 $2,300 Obama, Barack (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS/CEO 3/30/07 $2,300 Baucus, Max (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD
SEATTLE,WA 98112 STARBUCKS/CHAIRMAN 3/15/07 $2,300 Edwards, John (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS 5/21/04 $2,000 Daschle, Tom (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS 9/27/02 $1,000 Blinken, Alan John (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS 10/23/98 $1,000 Murray, Patty (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS/CEO 3/30/07 $200 Baucus, Max (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD D
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS COFFEE CO 12/20/04 $2,000 Cantwell, Maria (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD D
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY/CHAIRMAN A 8/9/05 $2,000 Dorgan, Byron L (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD D
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY/CHAIRMAN 12/9/05 $1,000 Kennedy, Edward M (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD D
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS 10/9/98 $1,000 Baird, Brian (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD D
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY 12/26/01 $1,000 Kirk, Ron (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD D
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY 12/26/01 $1,000 Kirk, Ron (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD D MR
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS COFFEE CO./EXECUTIVE 6/30/05 $2,100 Cantwell, Maria (D)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD D MR
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS CORP. 5/25/99 $1,000 McCain, John (R)
SCHULTZ, HOWARD MR
SEATTLE,WA 98124 STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY 4/19/99 $1,000 Bradley, Bill (D)
My guess most businesses are trying their best to be nice through the holidays. January - March will be a blood bath.
In other news, Starbucks has (had) a 401(k) program for its employees.
We’re waiting for that to happen at my company, too. It hasn’t yet, but it will be the first thing to go if things turn sour.
My employer just raised it’s 401K match for next year. I’m lucky to work for a financially sound company.
I think the Starbucks story is about over. They grossly overextended themselves, and now they’re paying the price. They’re starting to get hurt by competition from McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts on one end, and local coffee shops on the other.
I’m not saying they’re going away completely, but their days as the big player on the block are numbered.
I’m kinda surprised they even offer it outside of corporate, really.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, he sold the Seattle Sonics to Oklahoma City! When you add it all up, it makes me glad I choose to drink Tully’s Coffee.
Some companies have been issuing the company’s stock as their matching funds instead of cash in their company K’s.
Needless to say, that has been a disaster in the past couple of years for many people.
We have a younger relative where this has happened and a local friend, both work for large health care companies. The mutual fund options in both K’s are either terrible or the ones made up for 401ks which you can’t track to see their real value.
The older friend will probably opt out of the K plan in 2009 and roll her K over to a self managed IRA and max out her IRA yearly donations. She is 59 and with the new rules, she can crank in a lot of money next years to her own IRA until she retires. Also, she would avoid the bad mutual fund choices offered in her K.
The younger relative is having her CPA run the numbers to see about going low with her monthly 401k donations and starting her self managed IRA with the $’s normally donated to her K. The only problem there, again are the terrible mutual fund choices offered by her K. She may just opt out like her husband did with another company this past year and go straight to the self managed IRA.
Worst deal ever!
The company I work for raised it’s 401 match, but eliminated the profit sharing.
All with great fanfare like Orwell’s “raising the chocolate ration from 30 to 20 grams” in 1984.
If a company’s gonna hose you, I wish they had the guts to not treat you like a moron when they do.
It’s kind of silly that employers even offer 401(k) matches in the first place. It’s effectively just a portion of your paycheck that is contingent on your using it in a particular way. Yes, it’s good to put money in your retirement account, but there’s no reason for your employer not to just give it all to you and let you do whatever you want with it.
Maybe they ought to tell their barristers they’re just doing it to save the earth.
That’ll make ‘em content.
***Yes, it’s good to put money in your retirement account, but there’s no reason for your employer not to just give it all to you and let you do whatever you want with it.***
NO, NO,, NO, you just don’t understand. The Big 0 says that people don’t know how to invest their savings. He’s going to put all 401ks and IRAs into a fund similar to Social Security, and spend...er, invest it for us.
This underscores the value of defined contribution benefit programs; when times are tough you can contract the contribution with relative ease and not impact the solvency of the plan. The defined benefit plans, while robust when run with prudence, always seem to succumb to the whims of idiots.
On a related note I have to comment that when I was performing an employee evaluation last week I was questioned regarding the certainty of raises for next budget cycle. I had to laugh and tell the employee that I would be happy if the workforce could be maintained.
I love how they take things from you and call it an “improvement”. They do it all the time where I work.
It happened to me right after the 'Paradigm Shift' video and training. Lost profit sharing, Christmas bonus, and a week of vacation!
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