Good Riddance to Traditional Pensions

In the wake of IBM (IBM) doing away with its pension plan, James Glassman says, “good riddance.”

Lee Conrad, a labor organizer, said after the IBM news: “Employees are going to be losing out on all kinds of benefits. You’ve got to wonder what’s going to happen to the next generation of workers.”
No, you don’t. A study released last September by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the Investment Company Institute found that Americans do a fine job with their 401(k) plans. Even with the rotten stock-market conditions of the early 2000s, the average account balances of 401(k) participants rose about 40 percent, to $91,000. And remember, these workers still have two decades to retirement.

Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 14th, 2006 at 11:10 am

The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.