Originally Posted by
shiznit
C2015, its coming soon. What is the value of a 15% (future 16-17% maybe?) DC do to a "restoration" equation... I'd like to hear no holds barred thoughts. I find it a very interesting topic because of the extremely different situations and perspectives that come from the seniority/age/merger spectrum.
For a pilot hired in the 07-present, Johnso/me/ACL it's probably way better than the old DB/nonqual plans.
For the 98-2002 hires, like Check and Gloopy is it marginally better depending on age, or still worse?
For 91-97 like DAL88 etc. (and gzsg?) it probably isn't even close enough or "just barely almost" when claim/note/equity/frozen/PBGC are factored in and you are a near perfect investor??
For 88-91 guys (Denny, Carl) is there not enough time to fix it no matter what the 401k percentage?
How do we quantify that, and since it will vary wildly depending on demographic what is the value towards a stance of "restoration"?
There is a small elephant in the room wrt this. The frozen pension guys have continued funding which the rest do not have. I am not advocating anything regarding this changing, but would like to see everyone get equal pieces of pie. Retirement is important, or should be, for everyone.
Also, you pulled a number out of the air, isn't unical or aa at 16%. Why can't we pattern up from there anyway.
For me, the more the company contributes, the less I need to in order to max out. Then I can just do IRA catchup and my wife's IRA. I also invest on an after tax basis and diversify with other tangible depreciable assets which decreases my tax burden and limits my risk in the next bubble burst.
As you alluded, everyone's situation is different. There is an income point where there is a diminishing value on higher pay due to taxes. At that point, everyone needs a farm for the schedule F and or rental properties for depreciation and residual income. (Not advice just examples that people should look into).
The answer to your question ultimately comes down to its effect on taxes and that's a really individualized answer.