undefined | Better HN

Skip to content

Top Best Ask Show New Jobs

0 pointschrisseaton6y ago0 comments

> Today, very few workers still have pensions

I've never seen a professional job that didn't include a pension - certainly not in the tech industry.

0 comments

7 comments · 3 top-level

wikibob6y ago· 2 in thread

Are you in the USA?

Pensions are defined benefit. That is, it is specified exactly how much money you will receive in retirement.

A 401K retirement plan is not a pension. You save your own money and possibly an employer contribution, and you make your own investment decisions. The value goes up and down in accordance with what you invested in.

chrisseatonOP6y ago

> A 401K retirement plan is not a pension.

Are we both talking about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/401(k)?

"In the United States, a 401(k) plan is the tax-qualified, defined-contribution pension"

Defined contribution (401k) is not the same as defined benefit (pension).

jgwil26y ago· 2 in thread

Why are you going all up and down this thread trying to pedantically show that people are using the term "pension" slightly differently to Wikipedia's definition? It's not contributing anything to the discussion.

chrisseatonOP6y ago

Well I just don’t get it. People say ‘nobody gets a pension anymore’ but a 401(k) is just a different type of pension. My defines benefit savings plans literally say ‘pension’ in the product names.

ryan936y ago

The state pensions have no risk. They get a guaranteed payout regardless of stock market performance. The difference comes out of taxpayer pockets. With a 401k if the stock market crashes you are out of lock. The taxpayers won’t chip in the difference

Here have you seen a pension in the tech industry? 401ks are ubiquitous but no modern companies offer pensions

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse