Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: unclewest who wrote (111901)	4/30/2005 11:46:37 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793917

You are either uninformed about the government retirement programs or have a warped view of private sector retirement plans. It must be the latter because my job required me to become quite expert in FERS and CSRS, as I had implementation responsibility for the former. My knowledge of private sector programs is admittedly only broad brush. And there was no tardiness. 401K plans were effected in 1981. TSP was enacted in 1986 and effective in 1987. Whether or not that could be characterized as "tardy" is I suppose a matter of opinion. I would have liked to have had the opportunity to build my nest egg during that gap. The government employee retirement plan has always been extremely generous and still is. Indeed. Karen was pointing out the nature of the beast and questioning the inequities in the congress persons and employees personal retirement accounts as compared to the average working American. The inequities most certainly exist. She may have been pointing that out, but what she said and what I responded to was " Don't the Government workers get to chose their own vehicles for retirement funds? " Go back and look at my response and see what point of hers I addressed. You ignored her main point Since when is there an obligation to address every point in a post to which one is responding? I am not addressing a number of points you made in your latest post to me. Do I really have to address military or VA pensions just because you saw fit to mention them lest this response be somehow suspect? Once again you chose to obfuscate and criticize for no reason. Just because I didn't respond to what you saw as relevant or worth discussing in her post doesn't mean I'm obfuscating. Employees "choosing their own vehicles" is a clear reference to the TSP. I simply addressed a narrow point she made and I clearly labeled my response accordingly by quoting her. My response was to the point I quoted. TSP is, indeed, comparable to 301K. It's the only part of my retirement program where I get to choose a vehicle. The rest of the retirement program, whether federal or private, is neither here nor there. As for criticizing, I wasn't criticizing her. I have some expertise in this area and I was informing her that she was barking up the wrong tree. I don't expect her to know what I know on the subject. I find this sensitive perception of criticism interesting but inexplicable. Maybe it's a temperament thing or a life-experience thing. In my world, people trade information and arguments primarily as a joint problem solving experience or to be helpful, not as some kind of game of gotcha. There's no criticism implied in providing someone with information or understanding that they don't have. There's no criticism implied in arguing a point. If you tell me something about the workings of a firearm, are you criticizing me for not being knowledgeable in your area of expertise. Maybe, given your perspective on criticism you are, but I wouldn't take it that way because it's outside my experience to frame things that way. If you'd like to discuss Karen's other question, I'll accommodate you. I don't think it has much to do, though, with the question of SS reform, which is what is at issue. FWIW, I just looked back at my post to LB. I don't see any critcism in there. Plenty of disagreement, though. Perhaps you could point out what you see as criticism. I informed CB that there doesn't seem to be any such thing as a whale turd and JDN when I told him about the autopsy findings. How come that's not criticism in your eyes, too? Remember, if you don't answer my questions, that's called "ignoring." <g>

To: unclewest who wrote (111901)	4/30/2005 2:06:00 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793917

Thanks UW, great info! I actually had a couple of points... one is still: "Why don't the Congressional Democrats AND the Republicans talk about their benefits???" and the other is: If the Government trusts the Government employees to make correct choices when managing/investing their retirement money, why wouldn't the Government trust the other average "joe blows" outside the Government to manage/invest a small portion of their SS retirement money? And the larger point is, why won't the Congress, both parties and both houses, discuss this question? Of course, there is a large elephant in the room as well. Most companies in the US, can not afford the same generous benefits that the US Government provides it's employees. Even the large private companies don't have anywhere near the same benefits, and the small ones--under 500 employees-- sure as heck don't. Small companies BTW, are the very engine of growth in the US.