Retirement Plans: China's Lenovo ADDS While U.S. IBM SUBTRACTS

[Jerry Jones]

http://tinyurl.com/zqxl8

Amazing.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Umfriend]

So what? Who says Lenovo is implementing a defined-benefits plan? Am I missing your point?

[Jerry Jones]

So what? Who says Lenovo is implementing a defined-benefits plan? Am I missing your point?

The EETimes says Lenovo is implementing a "pension" plan:

http://tinyurl.com/zqxl8

A pension plan is a defined benefit plan.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[wkulecz]

What a deal, promise them benefits you never plan to deliver instead of paying higher wages so they can save for their own future.

--wally.

[ZokesPro]

What does this have to do with desktop video?

[Enak]

[schmosef]

Jerrold's browser is hard locked to DV only.

[Jerry Jones]

What a deal, promise them benefits you never plan to deliver instead of paying higher wages so they can save for their own future.

--wally.

True enough... American corporations are allowed to break their promises to workers through bankruptcy making an increasing number of pensions almost worthless:

http://tinyurl.com/nrqdx

But -- as the Wall Street Journal reports -- retirement benefits for *EXECUTIVES* are lavish:

http://tinyurl.com/gr635

"...a Wall Street Journal analysis of corporate filings reveals that executive benefits are playing a large and hidden role in the declining health of America's pensions."

"This is the pension squeeze companies aren't talking about: Even as many reduce, freeze or eliminate pensions for workers -- complaining of the costs -- their executives are building up ever-bigger pensions, causing the companies' financial obligations for them to balloon."

As for 401Ks, I'm old enough to remember when they were first proposed and they were NOT ORIGINALLY INTENDED to be anything more than a SUPPLEMENT to regular pension plans.

But when globalization started getting really ugly in the 80s, then corporations began to see how much they could save by getting rid of pensions and REPLACING them with what was originally intended to be only a supplemental retirement savings plan... the 401K.

This has all been documented in detail by PBS's Frontline, which did an EXCELLENT job of exposing how 401Ks have been the great American con job:

http://tinyurl.com/n7nvz

The problem with the 401K approach is that for as many as 50% of the employees of any given corporation, the earnings are not sufficient to allow for adequate savings:

http://tinyurl.com/ne6o

Clearly, the vast majority of people who have pensions are going to be better off than those who have nothing but 401Ks.

I think further evidence of our national stupidity is how we've DELIBERATELY run up the national credit card...

http://tinyurl.com/ecpx

...because so many of our leaders are ideologically opposed to Social Security and have truly DESPISED everything that happened during the Roosevelt era.

If you run up the national debt with frivolous spending on this adventure and that adventure, then you can eventually stand up in front of the American people and -- with a helpless looking smirk on your face -- you can reach into your pockets and turn them outward and say Social Security is broke.

Think about it -- if you are already filthy rich, Republican or Democrat -- you have a house in Paris, France and you have a house in Tahiti and you have a house in Singapore and... well... you don't lose anything if the United States collapses.

You're a true "multinational" -- with no allegiance to any particular country.

Let's look at another key reason why so many Americans can't hope to save enough in 401ks: COLLEGE COSTS.

I know a lot of people who graduated from college with no debt.

Now that was incredible to me because I worked like a dog as a hard rock miner to try to cover college costs and -- in spite of my high mining wages -- the money was not sufficient to cover the full cost of college.

Like millions of American college students, I had to BORROW a lot of money to be able to go to college where I was fabulously successful and glowing with hope, graduating cum laude with a 3.7 GPA.

Sadly, however, I had to work TWENTY YEARS -- TWO DECADES OF MY WORKING LIFE -- to pay off the college loans because my wages in television news and city government were relatively stagnant -- even during the "boom" years -- and I have concluded that "Horatio Alger" is an American myth.

Guess what?

When you're trying to pay down debt like that, you can't save much in that 401K plan.

And what happened to my fellow college students from rich families?

Well, even the "screw-offs" who could barely pass English 100 are now miles ahead of me because they graduated with NO DEBT.

With no college DEBT, they were free to leverage their earnings to buy real estate.

And that's the simple magic that results from being born into the right family.

I know very smart kids coming out of law school with a quarter of a million dollars in student loan debt and they may NEVER be able to buy homes.

Think about that.

A quarter of a million dollars of DEBT -- just to earn a degree!

And that's where the class wars begin.

As a TV reporter, I watched in awe as incompetent managers in journalism and construction and finance and government -- many walks of life -- were given HUGE salaries to literally wreak havoc... with NO ACCOUNTABILITY... and after they got done crapping all over everybody else they laughed and walked away with the spoils as if they had literally won a war.

So my message is clear: STOP SPENDING MONEY ON YOUR VIDEO HOBBIES.

Ha!

(I've decided any upgrades I make to my MiniDV equipment will only happen if my situation improves dramatically).

By the way, Ireland now appears to be the richest country in the European Union:

http://tinyurl.com/3u7j6

That's why I am not surprised to learn that college in Ireland has been FREE since 1996.

When a country stops engaging in class warfare, it would seem that prosperity is the result.

I wish Americans were smart enough to realize that.

But I'm not betting on it.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Nowhere]

Hmm...I'm not entirely convinced that free Uni education results in great prosperity...

[Dr Mordrid]

Me either given the plethora of what my dad called 'college educated idiots'

Another problem is the uncanny ability of an educational system to absorb funding with little imorovement in classroom results over time, if any. IMO a guarantee of massive numbers of new students, and the funding that comes with them, would just give us more of the same inefficiencies we see now and little net gain.

You also have to understand that ~20-25% or more of kids, teens & adults are not significantly educable; 8-10% are flat out mentally ill and the remainder is otherwise learning impaired. Not to say that some of these can't 'make it', but most not at college level. Guaranteeing this group a college education is a waste of scarce resources.

Trade schools etc., sure....but college? Pffftttt....

Before reacting to that statement consider that my wife is a teacher of ~30 years, who spent more than half of that in special education, and she feels the same....if not more so.

Dr. Mordrid

[Jerry Jones]

Hmm...I'm not entirely convinced that free Uni education results in great prosperity...

Ireland's fabulous economic success during the past decade has resulted, in part, from the desire of corporations to take full advantage of a highly-educated workforce.

My brother has been an economic development specialist for several years.

In his field, there's no longer a debate on this subject.

A highly educated workforce, university or technical (both are important), helps pave the way to prosperity.

I'm not saying that the university education should be free to students who can't pass entrance requirements.

What I'm saying is that any student WHO MEETS ACADEMIC STANDARDS as demonstrated by grades or standardized testing should not be kept out of the university system.

But that's happening.

And it's a ticking time bomb.

Because you can't deny homes to an entire class of worthy students -- as we're doing here in the U.S. -- and expect the consumer economy (driven by home buying and new construction) to keep moving forward.

Those who FAIL to meet academic standards should not be granted access to a free university education.

The problem is that I see too many -- well -- screw-ups from wealthy families who graduate with degrees and no debt and they're leap-frogging over thousands of more qualified students.

I recently gained admission to the University of Hawaii's master's degree program in library science based on my performance on the GRE (graduate record exam) and my undergraduate GPA (3.7).

It was a very competitive admission process.

In the end, I decided to say "no" because it was going to force me into long-term student loan debt to the tune of more than $50,000.

Imagine that!

More than $50,000 of DEBT.

The other severe problem that results from our current U.S. system is that many excellent graduates CAN'T AFFORD to take moderate-paying, but VERY IMPORTANT jobs in health care and the social services because they have to make high STUDENT LOAN PAYMENTS and that FORCES them to take only the highest paying jobs, leaving vacancies in many fields.

Ireland's success speaks for itself.

The "proof of the pudding is in the eating."

Those economic numbers don't lie.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[schmosef]

Ireland's fabulous economic success during the past decade has resulted, in part, from the desire of corporations to take full advantage of a highly-educated workforce.

My brother has been an economic development specialist for several years.

In his field, there's no longer a debate on this subject.

A highly educated workforce, university or technical (both are important), helps pave the way to prosperity.

I'm not saying that the university education should be free to students who can't pass entrance requirements.

What I'm saying is that any student WHO MEETS ACADEMIC STANDARDS as demonstrated by grades or standardized testing should not be kept out of the university system.

But that's happening.

And it's a ticking time bomb.

Because you can't deny homes to an entire class of worthy students -- as we're doing here in the U.S. -- and expect the consumer economy (driven by home buying and new construction) to keep moving forward.

Those who FAIL to meet academic standards should not be granted access to a free university education.

The problem is that I see too many -- well -- screw-ups from wealthy families who graduate with degrees and no debt and they're leap-frogging over thousands of more qualified students.

I recently gained admission to the University of Hawaii's master's degree program in library science based on my performance on the GRE (graduate record exam) and my undergraduate GPA (3.7).

It was a very competitive admission process.

In the end, I decided to say "no" because it was going to force me into long-term student loan debt to the tune of more than $50,000.

Imagine that!

More than $50,000 of DEBT.

The other severe problem that results from our current U.S. system is that many excellent graduates CAN'T AFFORD to take moderate-paying, but VERY IMPORTANT jobs in health care and the social services because they have to make high STUDENT LOAN PAYMENTS and that FORCES them to take only the highest paying jobs, leaving vacancies in many fields.

Ireland's success speaks for itself.

The "proof of the pudding is in the eating."

Those economic numbers don't lie.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

Man, I would love to relocate to Hawaii.

I spent three weeks there when I was 13 and I LOVED IT!

[Jerry Jones]

In my case, it was so sad.

The library science department in Hawaii is fantastic and I had a chance to communicate with the professors and it would have been an amazing educational experience.

But the financial aid department told me that scholarships were extremely limited and -- as a consequence -- I would not qualify for *any* scholarship funds.

I also applied to the Idaho Press Club for a $500 scholarship. They gave it to a much younger man who appeared to have fewer years of work experience and lesser academic credentials.

I also applied to the Idaho Library Association for a $500 scholarship. They gave it to an existing library employee.

So... there I was... 20 years of professional work experience, an A- undergraduate GPA, in the top 25% of graduate school applicants (GRE analytical and verbal scores), and not one red penny in scholarship funding.

That seemed pretty strange.

Then came the shock about my father and whether or not he qualified for veterans benefits.

My father was honorably discharged from the United States Navy.

He not only *volunteered* for service during the Korean War, he volunteered a *second* time after his first tour of duty was completed.

He was *HONORABLY* discharged and he has service medals.

Recently, I went to the local Veterans Administration Medical Center and asked whether he could apply for health care and he was DENIED.

They claim there's a "lack of funding," which has triggered a relatively recent policy decision in the early 2000s to close the Veterans Administration health care to veterans who are deemed by the administration to be "middle-class."

So -- as far as I'm concerned -- we don't support ALL veterans in this country.

In fact, I think we betray THOUSANDS of them after we USE them to defend our freedoms or, in some cases, serve the interests of certain corporations.

Then we open the doors of our public universities to the spoiled, screwed-up children of the corporate elite -- and then close the doors of our public universities to the QUALIFIED -- and we wonder why we get the ENRONs and the WORLDCOMs and the ADELPHIAs.

These are the filthy corporate scandals that make our country the laughing stock of the world because we have so many unqualified people rising to the top of our formerly great companies.

I cringe when I think of Arthur Andersen.

Can you believe it?

One of the world's proudest accounting firms -- brought to its knees by incompetence and greed.

This is sick and twisted stuff, folks.

But -- hey -- that's life in these United States.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[schmosef]

Wow, that's a terrible story about your Dad Jerrold.

Your dad's service makes him a bona fide hero and there's no excuse for him to be poorly treated by the country that he risked his life for.

You should write a letter to your congressman.

[Jerry Jones]

According to the VA Web site:

"Effective January 17, 2003, VA suspended NEW enrollment of veterans assigned to Priority Group 8 (VA's lowest priority group consisting of higher income veterans)."

http://tinyurl.com/mhb43

To simplify, any United States veteran who isn't financially destitute and wasn't wounded in combat has been DENIED access to Veterans Administration benefits since January 17, 2003.

Our representatives know they can cut taxes on the wealthiest citizens of the country and -- at the same time -- cut services to the men and women who put their lives on the line.

An estimated 164,000 veterans who fought in World War II, Korea, Vietnam are DIRECTLY impacted by the 2003 decision.

I think it is fascinating to see the reaction from Americans who aren't aware so many veterans are being "sold out."

Now I'll admit this.

My Dad is not starving; he's part of America's dying "middle-class."

He's definitely not "high income," but he's not dirt poor.

But why should a veteran be excluded because he's not destitute?

And why should a veteran be excluded because he wasn't wounded?

Dad served on more than one ship, including the USS Dionysus.

He participated in the shelling of Inchon and he told me it was a frightening yet awesome experience to see those big guns of the Battleship Missouri shoot those giant shells -- like rockets -- overhead.

Guess what?

Dad's not bitter at all.

When I told him what the VA said, he didn't say a word; he didn't complain even a little bit.

He just shrugged his shoulders and walked off.

Personally, I think this country is selling out and it disgusts me.

Thomas Bock, national commander of the American Legion, wrote an impressive opinion piece when the 2003 decision was made to close the Veterans Administration medical facilities to service men and women who survived their war experience without wounds.

Here is Bock's American Legion opinion piece:

http://tinyurl.com/n74cb

Bock's argument is that anybody who puts his or her life on the line -- and my Dad certainly did -- deserves to be honored for that service and granted access to medical care at the VA.

Obviously, Idaho's Congressional leaders (all hacks, in my view) disagree.

Isn't it great how we can fund regular pay increases and fabulous health and retirement benefits for our Congressional leaders (including our notorious United States CHICKEN HAWKS), and all kinds of studies about the mating habits of obscure insects, etc., but we can't fund basic medical services for ALL veterans who risk their lives for America?

Like I said... sick and twisted.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net