Originally Posted by
kronan
Call them pancakes, call them waffles, call them crepes.
Whatever name you use, they’re not stocks, not a mutual fund, not bonds. Just a ‘notional’ investment in the pension trust fund, which is invested in various ways.
As designed, the value of your notional investment is never less than the value you ‘invested’.
That’s why it’s called ‘a floor’.
If the floors 2%, and you earn $285,000, the value of your pancakes will never be less than $5,700.
If we negotiate a 2.1%, or 2.2%, value would be greater than that.
(For those scoffing at such a small increase, look back in time at the fury some have over similar pension multipliers written in to previous CBAs to offset B plan improvements)
YOS no longer capped.
And it’s still a Pension fund, with all of the same basic protections our current A plan has.
Should stock markets implode, ala the Great Depression, if Pension payments are in jeopardy, FedEx legally obligated to provide the necessary funding.
Or enter bankruptcy and get a judge to agree that suspending pension funding is essential to FedEx surviving.
If anyone could botch the contract language, that would be us. Make the floor $150k and you at least have my attention. It’s a ridiculously complex plan. We’ve got a great concept now, let’s just try and improve what we have. Add a cash over cap B fund, and/or a significantly higher percentage. Increased multiplier, higher FAE. Try to tie FAE with IRS limits (now $285k) as a sort of COLA. Look at a flat dollar pension. As I mentioned earlier, we did get some targeted A fund gains in 2006. We’ve really only failed badly in 2015. Make retirement THE cornerstone issue. Very, very focused negotiation.
Why reinvent the wheel? Ditch the pancakes and let’s use tried and true pension ideas.