Retirement In America - The Beginning

Years ago, “Greatest Generation” employees would spend their entire careers with the same company, because at retirement they would get a lifetime pension.

There are pros and cons to almost everything.

Pros for the employees: Employees with a properly managed pension plan enjoyed financial security throughout their retirement years. During their working years, they had a good idea of how much money they would have for retirement and could plan ahead.

Cons for employees: Pension plan vesting periods tied employees to a company. If they transitioned to another company, the vesting period began all over again, or worse, the new company had no pension benefits.

Pros for the company: Employee turnover and turnover costs were very low. The employees with longer job experiences produced higher quality products and services.

Cons for the company: The pensions were expensive and funding the plans was a constant challenge. In some cases, the pensions were poorly managed and were not financially solvent.

In 1978, the Baby Boomers changed everything with the 401k.

What happened next?

As I said before, there are pros and cons to almost everything, and I’ll cover that next week right here on The Alemian File.

If you have questions or comments send an email to David@theAlemianfile.com, or visit my website at

www.CapitalCrestFinancialGroup.com.

Absolutely make sure you come back here next week for another edition of The Alemian File.