How Safe Is Your Pension??
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How Safe Is Your Pension??
The following from today's IRISH TIMES newspaper.
How safe is YOUR pension??
Could you afford to live on 37% of what you thought you were entitled to?
STATE COMPANY Bord na Móna has told workers that it cannot pay a pension to which some of them have been contributing for decades.
The company told 240 workers who are members of its defined benefit pension scheme that its deficit has reached the point where it cannot meet its obligations to them.
The announcement does not affect about 400 former Bord na Móna workers who are members of the scheme and are drawing defined benefit pensions from it.
The company did not reveal the shortfall in the scheme, but The Irish Times understands that its funds stand at €68 million while the deficit runs to about €52 million.
It said in a statement yesterday that “given the recent collapse of investment markets and the resulting liability increase, a significantly negative impact on the funding situation in Bord na Móna has arisen”.
It added that the company is continuing talks with representatives of its pension schemes and is hopeful that a joint solution can be found.
The workers affected are mainly clerical, administrative, supervisory and managerial grades.
According to their trade unions, Unite and Siptu, some of those hit have been working for the company and contributing to the scheme for up to 40 years.
It is understood that the company is proposing a compromise which would involve paying 37 per cent of the accrued benefit.
Unite regional organiser Dermot Mahon said that this was the Government effectively defaulting on its pension obligations. “For a privately owned company to act in this way would be reprehensible,” he said. “For a company which is 95 per cent in the ownership of a Government that is seeking to apply a pension levy on workers is beyond belief. We will meet management again next week by which time we would expect sense to prevail and for Minister Eamon Ryan and his Government colleagues to have ordered a reversal.”
He added that the company expected to make €30 million profit this year and plans to invest €500 million in research and development over the next five years.
The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, which is responsible for the company, said yesterday that it was aware that Bord na Móna has a pension deficit, and that it is in talks with workers and other relevant parties to try and deal with the issue.
“The department is confident that management can find a solution to the issue,” its statement said.
Normally, both workers and management contribute to pension schemes, which are managed by trustees and kept separate from the business itself. However, the business is ultimately liable to pay the beneficiaries from the scheme, and has to account for any shortfalls.
Bord na Móna was originally responsible for managing the State’s peat bogs, but has branched into waste management, energy and horticulture products.
How safe is YOUR pension??
Could you afford to live on 37% of what you thought you were entitled to?
STATE COMPANY Bord na Móna has told workers that it cannot pay a pension to which some of them have been contributing for decades.
The company told 240 workers who are members of its defined benefit pension scheme that its deficit has reached the point where it cannot meet its obligations to them.
The announcement does not affect about 400 former Bord na Móna workers who are members of the scheme and are drawing defined benefit pensions from it.
The company did not reveal the shortfall in the scheme, but The Irish Times understands that its funds stand at €68 million while the deficit runs to about €52 million.
It said in a statement yesterday that “given the recent collapse of investment markets and the resulting liability increase, a significantly negative impact on the funding situation in Bord na Móna has arisen”.
It added that the company is continuing talks with representatives of its pension schemes and is hopeful that a joint solution can be found.
The workers affected are mainly clerical, administrative, supervisory and managerial grades.
According to their trade unions, Unite and Siptu, some of those hit have been working for the company and contributing to the scheme for up to 40 years.
It is understood that the company is proposing a compromise which would involve paying 37 per cent of the accrued benefit.
Unite regional organiser Dermot Mahon said that this was the Government effectively defaulting on its pension obligations. “For a privately owned company to act in this way would be reprehensible,” he said. “For a company which is 95 per cent in the ownership of a Government that is seeking to apply a pension levy on workers is beyond belief. We will meet management again next week by which time we would expect sense to prevail and for Minister Eamon Ryan and his Government colleagues to have ordered a reversal.”
He added that the company expected to make €30 million profit this year and plans to invest €500 million in research and development over the next five years.
The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, which is responsible for the company, said yesterday that it was aware that Bord na Móna has a pension deficit, and that it is in talks with workers and other relevant parties to try and deal with the issue.
“The department is confident that management can find a solution to the issue,” its statement said.
Normally, both workers and management contribute to pension schemes, which are managed by trustees and kept separate from the business itself. However, the business is ultimately liable to pay the beneficiaries from the scheme, and has to account for any shortfalls.
Bord na Móna was originally responsible for managing the State’s peat bogs, but has branched into waste management, energy and horticulture products.
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Sorry Tobzalp/plazbot,
Votre point?
My point is that if so called state guaranteed pension funds are starting to cave in some parts of the world, what are the chances that the pension funds associated with Australian state and private aviation organisations could collapse?
I'm sure you think that your AvSuper fund, with its years of service multiplier, is safe - but what would you do if they suddenly turn around and say they can no longer afford to pay you the multiplier - just your original capital?
Not trying to be smart - just asking the question that maybe some of us AvSuper members should be asking.
Votre point?
My point is that if so called state guaranteed pension funds are starting to cave in some parts of the world, what are the chances that the pension funds associated with Australian state and private aviation organisations could collapse?
I'm sure you think that your AvSuper fund, with its years of service multiplier, is safe - but what would you do if they suddenly turn around and say they can no longer afford to pay you the multiplier - just your original capital?
Not trying to be smart - just asking the question that maybe some of us AvSuper members should be asking.
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Nothing absolutely nothing in life is guaranteed except death and taxes. One should think only in terms of possibilities and probabilities. It is probable that a pension will be honoured as expected; it is probable to a factor 0.5, 0.75 or 0.99999 that it will be paid - take your pick. However it is possible that it may not be paid at all - Robert Maxwell.
We have always assumed that anything backed by a (reliable) state would be gold-plated and as guaranteed as it is possible to be. That may no longer be the case in the current crisis and new economic order which may arise from it. What if a supposedly mature Western state goes bankrupt? Iceland, anyone? Argentina? What price that state's pension liabilities then?
We have always assumed that anything backed by a (reliable) state would be gold-plated and as guaranteed as it is possible to be. That may no longer be the case in the current crisis and new economic order which may arise from it. What if a supposedly mature Western state goes bankrupt? Iceland, anyone? Argentina? What price that state's pension liabilities then?
The only "Gold Plated" pensions are those for politicians and civil servants. Somehow these are never affected. Anyone else's is fair game. Remember the massive tax hike on UK private pensions.
http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/hom..._MON_3_NOV.pdf
http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/hom..._MON_3_NOV.pdf
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As a measure of how secure or safe your pension might be consider this;
In 1997, had I been able, my fairly substantial pension pot would have given me a pension of £1640 a month.
When I reached the grand old age of 55 I took my pension, in 2005, and was able to get an annuity from Standard Life paying £861 a month.
If I tried to buy an annuity with the same amount of money now, my pension would be £146 a month.
Good old Chancellor Gordon Brown, who removed the tax exemption on pension contributions and dividends, followed by Alistair Darling and the collapse of the stock market!
In 1997, had I been able, my fairly substantial pension pot would have given me a pension of £1640 a month.
When I reached the grand old age of 55 I took my pension, in 2005, and was able to get an annuity from Standard Life paying £861 a month.
If I tried to buy an annuity with the same amount of money now, my pension would be £146 a month.
Good old Chancellor Gordon Brown, who removed the tax exemption on pension contributions and dividends, followed by Alistair Darling and the collapse of the stock market!
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There are many reasons why G Brown, must lose the next General Election(not forgetting to mention B Liar who has broken an election promise by failing to serve his full term, as elected).
But foremost amongst those reasons is the blatant, shameless thievery from UK private sector pensions. There is a determined effort to destroy all benefits. Motive? More state depemdent slaves locked into voting Labour?
Add in the disintegration of the UK State Pension and the flagrant misuse of taxpayer's money to stoke up the public sector pension pot and you have a good excuse for a lynch mob. Actually, lynching is too good for them and merely losing a General Election isn't slow or painful enough. I'd tattoo their names on their foreheads and force them to live the rest of their lives on £10 a week (not adjusted for inflation) on the worst council estate in the UK.
But foremost amongst those reasons is the blatant, shameless thievery from UK private sector pensions. There is a determined effort to destroy all benefits. Motive? More state depemdent slaves locked into voting Labour?
Add in the disintegration of the UK State Pension and the flagrant misuse of taxpayer's money to stoke up the public sector pension pot and you have a good excuse for a lynch mob. Actually, lynching is too good for them and merely losing a General Election isn't slow or painful enough. I'd tattoo their names on their foreheads and force them to live the rest of their lives on £10 a week (not adjusted for inflation) on the worst council estate in the UK.
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Whatever he did had the effect of reducing the value of my pension fund by almost half in the years between 1997 and 2007 during a time when the stock market was rising almost constantly. Now that was clever of him.
Well I'm sure the politicians and civil servants will be quite happy to have their retirement benefits reduced this time around. The private sector have already done their bit, giving up over 150 BILLION pounds. The public sector will surely realise it's only fair for them to sacrifice as well given the present economic conditions.
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I see a Top Policeman has left the force today in the UK.
Appears he was not very good at his job.
He will be picking up a nice Gold Plated Pension thank you very much, it will be funded by the UK Tax Payer.
Appears he was not very good at his job.
He will be picking up a nice Gold Plated Pension thank you very much, it will be funded by the UK Tax Payer.
