Reply #62: Newsweek hardcopy [View All]

[SmileyRose]

A library will have copies of all 2006 Newsweek - or perhaps it can be found on their subscription site. I am almost certain all the figures they quoted were from the US Dept of Labor so perhaps you can find it on their site also. Either way, that is my source.

I have no doubt the assets of the pension fund have diminished somewhat. However, as anyone who is retired knows, the money you will need for the next 10 years does not go in risky investments. So at the very worst, the big 3 pension funds can pay out for a minimum of 10 years, even if nothing else is put in. Regardless, this crap about how pension costs are killing carmakers is a stupid lie because they don't pay those costs. What they pay is a very small portion of the expected future pension costs, 30 years from now - and since all 3 have switched for 401K's for newer workers, then that isn't an issue either.

What's an issue is SALARY worker pension costs. Golden parachutes for big shots, and promised pensions for plant management retirees. Not a single penny was ever put aside for them. Not one. The government didn't mandate it, so they didn't do it. And on the accounting balance sheets, they add these pensions in with the union hourly pensions to skew what is available.