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Schools are not designed for financial education. Sure, some specialized schools are but 95%(I made this up ) of schools preach this... "Find a SAFE, SECURE job with BENEFITS" which may not be such a terrible thing. Once you find this "SAFE, SECURE job with BENEFITS" the mind becomes lazy and satisfied with its new "SAFE, SECURE job with BENEFITS" and fails to realize that they still wont be able to retire.
Well nowadays yes. My mother used to preach that to me, but she is of the generation where you could just get a 'stable job' with a good company and put in 30 years and get a pension. Not so much anymore,it's becoming more rare.
Remember the good old days when all the private sector razzmatazz boys were laughing at public sector workers for slaving their lives away for peanuts? No profit-sharing? No stock options? Sheesh! And the usual answer back was no thanks, I'll trade all that for some security in a job I like and the hope of a comfortable retirement.
Alot of times when I talk to someone I used to know it always seems they're rolling in money,while I continue to struggle. Was I just born with bad financial genetics? Made too many bad choices? It's not like I ever squandered it,I've always worked...just nothing to show for it now.
What's the norm?
The Ameican way of life is expensive, long distances, much car Use, scare public transportation, large military expending, High University Cost. Expensive Unions which make houses expensive.
Remember the good old days when all the private sector razzmatazz boys were laughing at public sector workers for slaving their lives away for peanuts? No profit-sharing? No stock options? Sheesh! And the usual answer back was no thanks, I'll trade all that for some security in a job I like and the hope of a comfortable retirement.
Look who's laughing now.
Sure you can make more in the private sector but remember: not everyone can become ceo
Well nowadays yes. My mother used to preach that to me, but she is of the generation where you could just get a 'stable job' with a good company and put in 30 years and get a pension. Not so much anymore,it's becoming more rare.
My dad is a professional.
76 years old.
Not he or any single colleague of his has a pension.
How far back are you people gonna go to find crap to whine about?
i wish i had a pension , we did not even have 401k's yet for quite a while when i entered the work force . pensions went out with my dad's generation not mine and i am 64 .
The point above was over the dark humor and simple irony inherent in up-and-comers from not so long ago having boasted over how good life was out on the private-sector gravy-train who can now be heard whining over how good these spoiled rotten public sector workers have it. Despite the lower pay, it turns out that there was indeed much to be said for the stability and basic benefits of the public sector. Some folks learned a lesson the hard way here. Most now realize that their job security is nil and that the health, retirement, and other benefits that once went with their flashy job titles have now simply evaporated. This is Bush's "Ownership Society" come to claim you. But what you actually own there is only more risk.
The point above was over the dark humor and simple irony inherent in up-and-comers from not so long ago having boasted over how good life was out on the private-sector gravy-train who can now be heard whining over how good these spoiled rotten public sector workers have it. Despite the lower pay, it turns out that there was indeed much to be said for the stability and basic benefits of the public sector. Some folks learned a lesson the hard way here. Most now realize that their job security is nil and that the health, retirement, and other benefits that once went with their flashy job titles have now simply evaporated. This is Bush's "Ownership Society" come to claim you. But what you actually own there is only more risk.
I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again. Most of the pensions are too generous. I receive one of those. I figure I'd have to have 2.5 million saved using the 4% withdrawal rule in order to equate to my pension. I earned right at 100k and worked for 27 years. That's "just" the defined benefit pension. I also get social security beginning next month.
Is that generous? It is limited in COLA amount but can range up to 3% or 5% if the Retirement System is well funded (which it isn't)...so it will most likely be limited to 3% for the foreseeable future. However, in high inflation years, the excess inflation over the 3% is banked and can be used in lower inflation years down the road. (If that ever happens again).
So if I was a private sector employee not only would I have to save a whole lot and invest a whole lot, but I'd have to deal with the uncertainty of the market, how much to withdraw, how long it would last, etc....
So I consider myself very, very fortunate. When my friends were riding high on the hog, I was still quite satisfied and I still am.
Pensions are typically supported by both an employee and his/her employer, so the returns would typically be based on more that just your own contributions. Those on the employer side are -- like paid holidays and vacation days -- simply other parts of an employee's agreed upon total compensation package. Private sector benefits used to rival and in some cases surpass public sector benefits.. Then a great many of them simply went away so as to pass off corporate risk and pad corporate profits. These unilateral cutbacks would not mean that remaining benefits anywhere else were suddenly "too generous."
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) of schools preach this... "Find a SAFE, SECURE job with BENEFITS" which may not be such a terrible thing. Once you find this "SAFE, SECURE job with BENEFITS" the mind becomes lazy and satisfied with its new "SAFE, SECURE job with BENEFITS" and fails to realize that they still wont be able to retire.
