Originally Posted by
MEMFO4Ever
Sounds a lot like mutual fund NAV's. Seems pretty straightforward. Benefits earned build over time, but vary with share price. No artificial earnings or YOS cap, just the IRS limit which is already 15 grand over our cap.
Except it's NOT like a mutual fund. You don't own it, you can't move it, and the benefits do NOT build over time. If the pilot earns X pancakes in year 1, Y pancakes in year 2, and Z pancakes in year 3, at the end of 3 years he has only X+Y+Z pancakes, regardless of how the market performs or the fund performs. They don't earn dividends to be converted to extra pancakes.
The only relevant value ever assigned to each pancake is that value on the day the pilot retires. If that happens to be at the end of a good market year, YAY TEAM!
If it happens to be at the end of a horrible market year, SUCKS TO BE YOU! (Accept a lower benefit, or be stuck playing stock market roulette with your retirement.)
We cannot negotiate IRS limits, but we CAN negotiate CBA Caps.
Do you know what the current IRS limit is for a Defined Benefit Retirement? (HINT: It's a whole lot more than $130K.)
.