undefined | Better HN

0 pointslotsofpulp4y ago0 comments

Taxpayer funded defined benefit pensions, aka Social Security in the US, is the solution for people not earning enough money to save.

There is no reason to have a ton of employers get involved in the wealth transfer system. It adds so much unnecessary complexity, bureaucracy, agency risk, not to mention the longevity risk of a single employer surviving for 50 more years. And on top of that, the only thing the employer’s pension fund is doing is investing it in the same market that the beneficiaries can invest in themselves without having to pay overhead.

0 comments

2 comments · 1 top-level

ghaff4y ago· 1 in thread

>not to mention the longevity risk of a single employer surviving for 50 more years

There are various protections in place. I'll be collecting a pension from a long gone employer.

I'm not really going to argue for defined benefit pensions. There's a certain paternalistic attitude to them that your employer is at least partly responsible for looking after your retirement savings. And you're on the hook for being a loyal long-term employee to get that benefit.

Still, it will be nice to collect a decent payout from a benefit I probably didn't ever really think about at the time. I even know people who completely forgot that they even had a pension.

lotsofpulpOP4y ago

The only protection is the PBGC, which is woefully underfunded, and could not even handle the recent multi employer pension fund failures. They just got bailed out again Mar 2021 in the American Rescue Plan legislation:

https://www.pbgc.gov/american-rescue-plan-act-of-2021

The real bailout is the backstop the federal government provides on asset prices at the expense of purchasing power of the currency.

I understand that you are not arguing for DB pensions. I am just trying to make it clear that US society has moved past DB pensions because we now have an explicit promise of bailouts at the expense of the dollar, and if we are going to do that, then cut out all the actuary and investment fund fees, and just drop it in social security or target date funds.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse