FARK.com: (1842741) Tech giant IBM to overhaul pension plan by 2008, changes name to IBS: I've been Screwed

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(CCN)		Tech giant IBM to overhaul pension plan by 2008, changes name to IBS: I've been Screwed (ccnmatthews.com)		150
		More: Asinine

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6783 clicks; posted to Main » on 05 Jan 2006 at 10:10 PM | Favorite | share:

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Shooter_McGavin		2006-01-05 04:49:30 PM

Not exactly shocking... pension plans have been going the way of the dodo.

Its up to you to maximize your 401k. If you are in any profession and planning on a pension, you might want to re-think that idea.

Pam EL		2006-01-05 06:57:32 PM

Nothing good can come of something called "Ongoing Global Retirement Plan Strategy Shift."

AntiNorm		2006-01-05 07:04:18 PM

submitter: Tech giant IBM to overhaul pension plan by 2008, changes name to IBS: I've been Screwed

IBS is also the name of a medical syndrome. Rather fitting in this case, I would say.

/does IBM have IBS?

holywilson		2006-01-05 08:07:26 PM

They're increasing the 401k match, and giving current pension credits to the employees. It's not going to hurt that bad.

Lord of Allusions		2006-01-05 10:14:04 PM

Plan and Strategy in the same phrase, that's brutal.

footoo		2006-01-05 10:16:00 PM

AntiNorm, dammit, ur just too fast

Crosshair		2006-01-05 10:16:03 PM

$200 a month going into the company stock plan. I'm only 21 and I will probably sell it in a few years, but I will be on my way to having a nest egg. Don't rely on a company plan to do the work for you.

Crown Of Negativity		2006-01-05 10:16:07 PM

Maybe by then they'll actually have some money to market OS/2!

/former OS/2 junkie from the 2.0 days
//still has the box full of 20+ floppies

Mugato		2006-01-05 10:16:42 PM

I'm preparing for my own damned retirement. Next year. Companies are getting worse and worse about treating their employees like cattle and increasing the bottom line any way they can. I'm not saying that's the case here, just in general. It's scary for those old timers who remember companies being loyal to their "resources".

Planterz		2006-01-05 10:17:04 PM

Irritable Business Syndrome?

cqaudi		2006-01-05 10:17:05 PM

It's nice to see at least holywilson read the article. Who ever picked the asinine tag sure didn't.

-Ensuring 100 percent employee participation in the 401(k)
-Assisting nonexempt pension equity plan participants to save more by providing an annual special savings award of 5 percent of pay to their 401(k) savings plan, in addition to the company-funded contribution of up to 10 percent of pay.
-Redesigning its 401(k) savings plan to make it one of the richest in U.S. business

Oh yea, real asinine

KamelRed		2006-01-05 10:19:09 PM

Submitter is clearly scraping the bottom of the barrel.

www.magicmakers.com

10.0.0.1		2006-01-05 10:19:29 PM

Submitter == Asshat.

This is no bad thing for employees.

DannySpaz		2006-01-05 10:19:36 PM

-- Ensuring 100 percent employee participation in the 401(k) savings plan by opening accounts for employees who do not contribute to the plan, and annually depositing the automatic company contribution of 1 to 4 percent of their pay directly into these employees' accounts.

Will IBM pay 1-4% extra? Isn't that call stealing?

That isn't freedom.

DannySpaz		2006-01-05 10:20:26 PM

-2 for me. I'm drunk or something.

Descartes		2006-01-05 10:22:01 PM

The Submitter is a fool.

/Wishes my 401k was that nice.

symphonik		2006-01-05 10:22:21 PM

That headline sucks.

RandomExcess		2006-01-05 10:23:23 PM

Behold... another Bush economic success story!

Artcurus		2006-01-05 10:26:58 PM

I could say that about you 10.0.0.1,

Corporations are slowly killing this country. Everyone biatches about social security, removing retirement, etc.

They dont farking realize that society MUST deal with aging/infirm people, or the alternative is the streets. America is the worst place to live, our quality of life is deteriorating because of BS like this. We are the ONLY country that treats the poor/aged like crap.

I am so farking tired of this elitist, RICH asshat thinking that people below them dont matter.

toraque		2006-01-05 10:27:36 PM

I'd just have a real hard time trusting my retirement or 401K to the people who brought us Websphere and Lotus Notes.

Jingoro		2006-01-05 10:29:20 PM

Defined contribution plans are financial death to a company these days. I'm surprised they've gone this long still offering them. It's probably eating them alive funding the plan for all the baby boomers that will be coming up for retirement soon.

I do not blame them in the least. They seem to have a good plan to fund the 401(k)s, that make better sense for them and for employee.

headsoldier		2006-01-05 10:29:53 PM

IBS = irritable bowel syndrome,

bad if you've been screwed "in an uncomfortable place"

geosprint		2006-01-05 10:30:45 PM

Did not Georgie Bush ask the companies to play nice....?

Jingoro		2006-01-05 10:31:25 PM

errr, I meant Defined Benefit plans.

LineNoise		2006-01-05 10:37:08 PM

Artcurus

Or we could look at it as "Plan for your own damn future, or else don't expect to retire the last 30-40 years of your life", because that is where it is headed. Consider the retirement age as generally being 62-65. (and even that is high when you ask lots of union folks). Now consider that someone entering the workforce today can have a reasonable expectation of living to 90ish, maybe even longer considering we might be pretty close to some major breakthroughs in things like cancer.

Now consider that most people really don't start contributing in the workplace until their early 20s. That means you get 40 solid years of work out of someone, if you are lucky. Then you expect a company to continue paying that person for the next 30 years of their life? That means the company is really paying me a little more than half of what I am really costing them during my working career. I would rather have that money given to me as I go along, as if I plan well and make it work for me, I could end up retiring sooner, and leaving more behind for my kids.

Will some people screw up or have bad luck and not have a good 401k come 65? Of course. So then they work a few more years or don't retire in the same style as someone else. Its called life.

Its not like IBM is saying "screw you when you retire", its them saying "Hey, here is how we can save some money and actually make things better for some people". Is it about profit? Of course, they are a business, and being a business, guess what happens if they don't have profit, people don't have friggin jobs.

What the hell are you doing on here now anyway? Shouldn't you be busy setting fire to a starbucks or something?

sentient_being		2006-01-05 10:38:40 PM

Artcurus

You're a Democrat, aren't you? You libs can never see the writing on the wall: all you do is whine, whine, whine about everything, without even a cursory glance at the facts-of-the-matter.

/trollin', trollin', trollin' like submitterrrrrr, DUN DUN DUN!

rokpunk		2006-01-05 10:39:06 PM

we know, we know...

You work for IBM.

So you are really getting a kick out of most of these replies.

You think that we are very good at making it sound like we know what we are talking about.

But trust you.... we don't.

You think we just want to make ourselves sound smart, when in reality we dont know what we are talking about.

This is how bad info gets passed around.

If you dont know about the topic....Dont make yourself sound like you do.

Cuz some Farkers belive anything they hear.

skippy2057		2006-01-05 10:40:54 PM

Artcurus

America is the worst place to live

Are you insane? Have you ever travelled abroad?

America may not be the place it once was, but get a grip.

superluminal girl		2006-01-05 10:41:09 PM

All of my Grandparents retired from IBM. My parents met because their parents worked together. So, I regret to say that I am here because of IBM.

And now they screw us like this.

samiam00		2006-01-05 10:41:14 PM

They dont farking realize that society MUST deal with aging/infirm people, or the alternative is the streets. America is the worst place to live, our quality of life is deteriorating because of BS like this. We are the ONLY country that treats the poor/aged like crap.

did you even read the article? your ignorance is overflowing! they're shifting their money from old-fashioned pensions to 401(k), and they're matching the old-timers up to 6 percent and new hires up to 5 percent. those are pretty juicy numbers. if you had taken the time to read the damn thing, you would have learned:

The changes do not affect IBM's 125,000 current U.S. retirees, former employees with vested benefits or employees who retire prior to January 1, 2008.

chazz mctazz		2006-01-05 10:41:44 PM

I would rather have that money given to me as I go along, as if I plan well and make it work for me, I could end up retiring sooner, and leaving more behind for my kids.

But they aren't giving you that money and paying you more, they are cutting the retirement funds and keeping what they would have spent on them to themselves.

Tiamat		2006-01-05 10:42:27 PM

headsoldier:

Like the back of a volkswagen?

KevinOfOz		2006-01-05 10:42:34 PM

Beacuse it would be so much better if IBM would get crushed by the financial burden of their pension plan. That is why GM and the city of San Diego are in so much trouble.

DazedCouple		2006-01-05 10:43:30 PM

I was always told it was
"I've Been Misled"...

Ah well if it saves IBM 450 million for 2006
then employees on average will get less...
(nothing to see here move along)

Telos		2006-01-05 10:47:31 PM

Where's the conservatives? I need reminding about how good the economy is doing again, what with yet another company cutting yet another retirement plan.

BobtheFascist		2006-01-05 10:49:08 PM

Wha, wha, wha, it's all Bush's fault...

Gimme a break. This is a pretty sweet deal. Even if you don't want to participate you still get up to a 4% match of your annual income per year. For a person making $50K, that's up to $2K per year of COMPANY $$$ they invest for your benefit. Again, THEIR $$$, not yours.

Bad call on the ASININE tag.

RobDude		2006-01-05 10:51:42 PM

I blame old people.

They need to start dying already. They cheated the system and screwed over us who are still working.

Retirement funds, pensions, etc, etc, were all fine back when people died at 60. Now these damn old farts just linger, much like...farts. Those jerks.

To top it off, the next generation isn't pumping out babies fast enough. Let's face it SS (and most pensions) are nothing but a huge pyramid scam!

VOTE BROALOKVIN FOR A BETTER TOMORROW...TODAY!

JohnGault		2006-01-05 10:52:06 PM

Unfortunately. Switching to defined contribution rather then defined benefit is the norm in this decade.

It is a tough egg to swallow, but unless we want to go the way of the auto industry, we must adapt.

/switched from defined benefit to defined contribution
//understands the difference..
///understands the problem with remaining globally competetive and keeping defined contribution.....
////Understands, but emotionally hates it...

Greta_VanHouten		2006-01-05 10:52:41 PM

The article didn't mention ERISA or PBGC or being underfunded, so everything's ok.

Those 3 are the red flag words for any pension plan.

I Got Myxomatosis		2006-01-05 10:55:03 PM

submitter is an asshat, i would give my left nut to have a 401(k) like that

/yes i do know
//i work for a company that manages 401(k)s
///will probably save my other nut for retirement

All Apologies		2006-01-05 10:56:20 PM

Screwing employees, the new-old growth market.

I think we can all agree that a company without employees is nothing.

Screw the market, screw future growth.

Employees represent the spending power in a market. Stealing their wealth is stealing from future customers, and growth.

Telos		2006-01-05 10:56:33 PM

BobtheFascist

For a person making $50K, that's up to $2K per year of COMPANY $$$ they invest for your benefit.

Yeah, not that anyone makes $50k these days...

ComicBookGuy		2006-01-05 10:58:17 PM

"A deal's a deal until a better deal comes along."

Gee, I DO hope this doesn't adversely affect executive compensation!!

samiam00		2006-01-05 10:59:31 PM

Yeah, not that anyone makes $50k these days...

not when you're still in junior high.

1820lincoln		2006-01-05 10:59:55 PM

my girlfriend has ibs - irritable b*tch syndrome

heinousjay		2006-01-05 11:00:06 PM

RandomExcess
Behold... another Bush economic success story!

It's becoming increasingly apparent to me that the only economic success in this country is that which you make yourself. Example: I do contracting work @ $60/hr. I've been doing this for four years. I provide all my own benefits. I provide my own retirement plan. At this point, the only one that can screw me, is me.

Modern corporations won't take care of you. A Salary job means nothing, as you can be downsized on a moment's notice. Your benefits/pension can be dissolved (i.e. Enron, or what the airlines are doing).

Capitalism as we have it favors the corporations with absolutely no scruples. So I say: Expect nothing, get nothing, and make them pay you the difference up front.

Telos		2006-01-05 11:01:46 PM

samiam00
not when you're still in junior high.

Was that a bad attempt to insult me, or some wierd brand of sarcasm?

BobtheFascist		2006-01-05 11:03:59 PM

Telos "Yeah, not that anyone makes $50k these days..."

It takes a little effort & the ability to actually prove your value but it's not that hard.

Johnny Golgotha		2006-01-05 11:04:09 PM

I don't worry about retirement. When I get old and I can't do my job anymore, I know the senior citizen porn industry will take me in and give me work.

DavidDCC		2006-01-05 11:04:43 PM

This is so much better than pushing the pension onto the American public like every other head in the sand company in the US. Asinine? I think not.

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