Originally Posted by iahflyr

How much was United, Delta, and American’s pension? How about TWA, Pan Am, and Eastern? Whatever happened to that??? Oh, that’s right, it can be taken in a heartbeat.

I don’t want to spend one ounce of negotiating capital spent on a retirement vehicle that can be taken away in an instant. I want retirement money to go to MY ACCOUNT, where it cannot be taken away from me. I can choose how I want to invest it. I can even withdraw it early for just a 10% penalty if I really need it.

I’m more financially prudent than your example person who knocks up at stripper at 23, has 3 kids, a 5 acre house, and a wife who loves to spend. So even if United handed me a 100k a year pension tomorrow, I would have to plan my retirement as if I got $0/yr from a pension, because that’s a somewhat likely scenario, so it doesn’t change my financial planning picture at all. It’s a total waste (actually a loss since we would then get less in raises, which means less in 401k contribution).

16% 401k contribution is plenty. Pensions are worthless. Lets spend negotiating capital on $$$ and QOL that we can use now.