Originally Posted by
ATCsaidDoWhat
Given you comment, you have no understanding of the retirement plans or of how they are managed. Just as you compare the Teamsters now to the old era and what has happened post DoJ.
If you did, you'd understand how locked down they are on finances and how they have no attachment or access to the retirement plans. In other words, they have no plans to run. Members can vote to join outside, independently run, professionally managed plans. Or you can vote to have a 401 (k). You vote, you decide.
401(k)'s are great until the market hiccups or collapses. A defined plan takes the money, invests it and then when you retire, takes it and buys an annuity in your name and controlled by you that pays a nice dividend monthly, never touching your principal.
Further, given the vesting schedule, it allows you to retire earlier, if you choose, with a full retirement.
A 401 (k) is a nice add on, but not something I'd bet my long term retirement on.
That's great... I want the Teamsters to have nothing to do with my retirement. Period. Their job is to negotiate what I get. Give me American Airlines's retirement plan. If we get any form of a pension or anything that is in any way attached to the Teamsters then I'll have to change jobs so that I can get a retirement.
I'm the son of a financial planner so I do know a little bit about it. My other parent was an airline pilot so I'm fully aware of what allowing others to "manage" your retirement leads to.
Your understanding of how a retirement (401K, Roth IRA, and emergency fund) should be managed lacks basic understanding of how it should work. When you're young (like me) the bulk of your money should be invested into equities like mutual funds which may do bad the next year but perform at around 12% over the course of time. As you get older you shift your money to lower risk investments such as bonds that don't crash with the market. If you really lost every thing in the Great Recession then you lost it because you weren't responsible enough to read a book on how to manage your retirement. If you were in your mid to late 50s you should've been almost exclusively in stuff like Bonds which wouldn't have hit you.
Please don't take my advice. Read a book. Talk to an expert. It's important enough to read given that people are naive enough to think that their best option is to let the Teamsters manage their retirement. Letting others manage your retirement will result in them robbing you blind just like what's happened everywhere else recently.