More Eve of Destruction news

[BuzzH]

Not much seasonal and I am pretty sure it is included on my Service Comp Date.

The bill would allow seasonals to buy back their time toward retirement for years after 1989. Currently, only seasonal years prior to 1989 are eligible for buy back.

Service comp date includes seasonal years, but for retirement, those seasonal years don't qualify.

I could buy back about 4-5 years of total seasonal time if this bill gets passed. I'm good either way, but I would buy them back in a heartbeat to count toward total years for retirement.

Also hoping the FAIR act passes...7.4% raise. We'll lobby for that too.

 

[TN2shot07]

Not true at all, my Grandfather retired with a pension when he was 57, lived a comfortable life, owned a home, a cabin, new vehicles, did plenty of hunting, fishing, vacations, raised 2 kids.

My Dad has 2 pensions from the saw mills he worked at (both UNION pensions that the companies he worked for paid for), plus SS. He does really well.

Nobody is talking about what people can afford, we're talking RETIREMENT.

An employer provided pension plan was pretty normal not that long ago even in the private sector. Nobody is punishing anyone when it's part of the benefit package provided by an employer. Many times the pension plans are in lieu of higher wages.

They still do it for the most part with 401's, it's just that they should be more secured and it should be much more difficult, if not impossible for an employee to access that money prior to retirement age. Employers should also be required to contribute whatever they would match.

The .gov contributes 1% automatically into the tsp, and then employees had to "opt in" and contribute another 5% to receive the other 4% match. Now, new hires are automatically signed up for the full 5% match, they have to OPT OUT.

You can say anything you want, but you'll not convince me otherwise, that pensions and/or employer mandated 401's that employees can't withdraw until retirement should be required by law.

Yes, they work, and they work well when professionally managed. Check out the TSP:

he Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), a cornerstone of retirement planning for federal employees and uniformed service members, oversees an impressive $845 billion in assets, making it the nation's largest defined contribution plan. With 7 million participants, its scale and the active engagement of its members—who significantly contribute to receiving full matching funds—highlight its critical role in ensuring financial security.

Thrift Savings Plan Guide: What You Need To Know

A TSP is a defined contribution plan for retirement. Here's the information you need about this retirement account and how it may impact you.

www.forbes.com

116,827 tsp millionaires as of the end of 2023, low management costs as well, 48-52 cents/$1000 to manage it yearly, return on the C fund since inception in 1988 10.96%/year.

I wonder if someone started investing 20% of their gross salary since 1988 with almost 11% gains would be in a good position to retire?

I'll go out on the ragged, hairy edge, and say pretty good chance. Combined with a pension at 1.0-1.1%/year of high 3 salary, and also SS...likely pretty comfortable and able to retire at MRA of 57/30 years of service.

Buzz -

Your grandfather retiring with a pension plan is still a new concept as far as history goes, that was my point.

The TSP is not managed like an employer sponsored pension. The employee has investment options and are making the contributions. You can get similar returns to the c plan you quoted with a basic s&p 500 index fund, nothing fancy or special. That would also be one of the simplest fixes for ss, who the hell invests in treasury long term? I agree that if we have to go down the government retirement route a mandatory tsp that cannot be touched would be way better than a single ss bucket for everybody.

Employer pensions were not cheap to manage, were very limited in investments, and your retirement is tied to a company so no thank you. Pensions were also popular at a time when people got a job and worked most of their career at a job or two. Most people now have multiple jobs at different companies before they’re 30, I don’t want my former employers responsible for my future.

Nobody is talking about what people can afford, we're talking RETIREMENT.

This statement confuses me, retirement is all about what you can afford. You are literally making those decisions your entire career.

 

[BuzzH]

Buzz -

Your grandfather retiring with a pension plan is still a new concept as far as history goes, that was my point.

The TSP is not managed like an employer sponsored pension. The employee has investment options and are making the contributions. You can get similar returns to the c plan you quoted with a basic s&p 500 index fund, nothing fancy or special. That would also be one of the simplest fixes for ss, who the hell invests in treasury long term? I agree that if we have to go down the government retirement route a mandatory tsp that cannot be touched would be way better than a single ss bucket for everybody.

Employer pensions were not cheap to manage, were very limited in investments, and your retirement is tied to a company so no thank you. Pensions were also popular at a time when people got a job and worked most of their career at a job or two. Most people now have multiple jobs at different companies before they’re 30, I don’t want my former employers responsible for my future.

Nobody is talking about what people can afford, we're talking RETIREMENT.

This statement confuses me, retirement is all about what you can afford. You are literally making those decisions your entire career.

His pension plan started in 1935...He started drawing in 1972 and was federally administered.

Also, I agree with you on company controlled pensions, no way. It would have to be administered by a federal agency. That way, the retirement would follow you between employers.

My Dad's pensions are both Union controlled and have remained solvent for a long, long time.

 

[mtmiller]

Service comp date includes seasonal years, but for retirement, those seasonal years don't qualify.

I could buy back about 4-5 years of total seasonal time if this bill gets passed. I'm good either way, but I would buy them back in a heartbeat to count toward total years for retirement.

Thanks for bringing this up Buzz. My seasonal time was all "career seasonal" time, so I think my dates are still accurate, but I will check into it.

 

[BuzzH]

Thanks for bringing this up Buzz. My seasonal time was all "career seasonal" time, so I think my dates are still accurate, but I will check into it.

If you had a 13-13 or 18-8 you're golden...as long as you worked the 13 or 18 you get the entire year toward your retirement.

I'm a bit unsure about term appointments...

 

[406dn]

Much of this discussion proves the need for the floor that Social Security provides.

For reasons good and bad, many people end up old and broke. Some never made very much money, some spent their money as fast as they made it. Once you get old, there are no mulligans.

I worked many years in an oil refinery, for a major oil company. Their benefits are set up to provide their employees a comfortable retirement. A defined pension, a multifaceted savings plan with a 7 on the first 6 match, retiree subsidized health insurance, financial counseling, an employee could not reasonably ask for more.

Yet, I watched more than a few fail in their retirement. It usually came down to some combination of retiring too soon, spending too lavishly, and investing too aggressively. The company offered the pension as either a pension, in several configurations, or a lump sum. Most took the lump sum, as did I. If that sum was handled wisely, it could turn out really well. Handled less well, it could be gone well before a person died.

People will never be universally smart, no matter how much haranguing they receive. You can't or shouldn't absolve them all of their bad decisions. But, with this reality, a backstop like Social Security, keeps senior poverty at a manageable level for society.

 

[Darryle]

There are alot of things that will happen and be more pressing than propaganda.

Look around, dealer lots are full of vehicles that they couldn't even keep in stock just a year ago, $100k trucks in 2021/2022 are now $65k, dealers offering $10k discounts and either 0% or 1.9% finance rates upfront with no negotiating and they still can't get them off the lots.

One local addition under construction applied for and received a zoning request to switch from single family real estate to single family leasing.

People are broke, pay attention to your surroundings, not what either of those in charge tell the media. They are your most direct threat.

I suggest you start purchasing dry staples, rice and beans, salt and learn to process/cure and raise your food. Long term water supply, how you are going to shelter, feed and protect your family. I have a remote rural farm with a cistern and a high water table with plenty of opportunities to harvest game if needed. Switching to low voltage and solar powered systems in my farm house, new upgraded gravity water supply, new and more efficient insulation, sustainable heating systems.

I have been stock piling pinto beans and white rice for years, bulk salt and pepper, water purification system filters, enough to keep me fed and hydrated in a worst case scenario for a long time.

I have thought seriously about those walking to our southern border with their children, things must be horrible for them to even consider that as the best viable option they have to survive. We like to highlight the scum coming for nefarious purposes, but what is the ratio?

There's a reason I don't watch TV or read the weekly wipes, it's all doom and gloom and designed to divide the nation. Any rational person can look around and see the signs of what we are on the precipice of experiencing if they just pay attention.

I am far from an alarmist or a paranoid crazy old coot, I am a realist, I believe what I see and can add up, it's not looking good.

A good series to read is the William Forschen beginning with "One Second After". It's herald as a realistic look at a future without.