Can't you stay with one job for 30 years?

My family asked me that all the time. You will never have a pension if you keep skipping around. I used to take a new job every 6 to 8 months because one I got bored and two it was the only way to get a decent raise. I could have stayed in the military for 30 years, but I would probably be one of those amputees (lucky?) before my 30 was up. I guess I don't look so flaky now.

Shocks Seen in New Math for Pensions - New York Times: "In some cases, particularly at old industrial companies like automakers, the newly disclosed obligations are likely to be so large that they will wipe out the net worth of the company.

The panel, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, said the new method, which it plans to issue today for public comment, would address a widespread complaint about the current pension accounting method: that it exposes shareholders and employees to billions of dollars in risks that they cannot easily see or evaluate. The new accounting rule would also apply to retirees' health plans and other benefits.

A member of the accounting board, George Batavick, said, 'We took on this project because the current accounting standards just don't provide complete information about these obligations.'

The board is moving ahead with the proposed pension changes even as Congress remains bogged down on much broader revisions of the law that governs company pension plans. In fact, Representative John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio and the new House majority leader, who has been a driving force behind pension changes in Congress, said yesterday that he saw little chance of a finished bill before a deadline for corporate pension contributions in mid-April."

The traditional way doesn't seem to have worked very well as we are beginning to see and then it will be every man for himself.

You can forget the women and children.

Tags: pensions, underfunded, screwed older generation