to take money from someone or entity that you know is not yours, it is fraud.You think that money isn't theirs? Before you go tossing around words like "scam" and "slimy" and "fraud", park you high horse and think about how those terms apply to what these people are actually doing. You're claiming they are trying to take something that isn't theirs. Really? What are they trying to take that does not belong to them? Are they taking someone else's pension money? No. Are they trying to take Continental's money? No. Are they taking an amount of money that is more than they put in? No. They are trying to gain access to the money THEY PUT IN. As far as I can tell from the story, they did not get one more cent back than the balance in THEIR account. More specifically, they are trying to get THEIR money that is being controlled by a company that is failing. This is not a "what if". Continental is losing money. Lots of money. If the company goes down, their money could be at risk. Furthermore, at the rate the government is printing money, THEIR money is losing value. They would like to preserve that money. As it happens, there is a legal vehicle to do that. Civil divorce. They are using the legal means at their disposal to opt out of a bad situation created by Continental and the government.
Now,why do you think Continental would fight tooth and nail to keep them from getting access to pension money that does not belong to Continental or TO ANYONE ELSE? Hmmm?
Reporters are lazy. Just because they use the word "scam" to make these people look like villains for wanting their own money back, doesn't mean you have to fall for it without stopping to think about what is really going on.
Again, I am going to waste 5 more minutes debating you on something that is not defend-able. I am pretty sure you already researched Continental and found out what type of Retirement Pension Plan that they do offer their pilots, or you wouldn't of made the statements you made! That being said, the article is very vague on what type they do offer. Read this carefully, because this is very important, there are 2 types of plans I am familiar with and they are 1)DEFINED BENEFIT PLAN which is FULLY FUNDED by the company.
If this is the case, then your statement about them not taking money from the company is ludicrous. Because what happens in divorce proceedings is a Judge can take a percentage or all and give that to the spouse, and they usually don't have to pay a penalty for early withdraw, or the taxes. And if I remember right, 8 of the 9 quit (I guess the 9th one could not get his 2 weeks notice in fast enough before the company realized what was taking place)
So that means the pilot is free and clear to work at another Airline and start the process all over again. He can start up another Retirement plan with, lets say Delta. Again the article is vague on this as well, but I am assuming that all of them remarried after they received the Retirement benefit from Continental. So now the Pilot has a Lump sum retirement paid for by Continental and working at Delta (not retired, mind you) and working on his second retirement benefits. Two retirements for the price of one! And you don't see anything wrong with this? That my friend is a scam. Why would they have to keep this secret from their family and friends if it wasn't? Hmmmmm!!!!
I know this isn't important, but the second type of Retirement Benefits plan is the DEFINED CONTRIBUTION plan. This is where you can fund totally or your company matches a certain percentage and you usually are in charge of where that money goes. The most popular is your 401k. And those are broken up into safe harbor plan, traditional and simple! A few others fall into this category as well like ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) and profit sharing.
I know this is alot of information for you to wrap your brain around that is why I tried to keep it simple on the previous post. This is why we are in the financial mess we are in.....because of greed, and that is exactly the behavior these pilots showed when they did what they did! Not to mention, making a mockery of marriage to expose a loop hole in the system.That pissed me off more than the double dipping of benefits.