| 09 January 2006 401K Management at IBM is trashing their pension plan this week, the latest in a series of companies like Verizon that are doing the same thing. They are hoping to avoid what has happened to GM and Ford, who support a legion of retirees with relatively lavish lifetime benefits, or did, at least, until it mounted up to a disadvantage against the competition which amounts to nearly two thousand dollars a car. Not a good thing. I remember when quality plummeted in Detroit , and Ford became known as “Fix or Repair Daily.” That was the trade off to pay the people that worked on the assembly line. I worked on the line, when I was still in school, and it was mind-numbing. Not brutally so, just surreal in the procession of shiny things down the track in front of my position. I am convinced that my periodic brushes with real work are what made my brain more agile, and my fingers more nimble. There are a bunch of people looking at life transitions this year, and many of them are looking at their tax deferred retirement savings plans, the one known as 401Ks. My company has one, with matching funds to my contributions, which replaced the former generous life-time pension. I contribute 8% of my pre-tax income, or the maximum that the Government permits before taxes. This is no substitute for a real pension, which thank God I have from my time in the government. That entitlement gives me a certain objectivity to the matter, since I will never starve. But I am unlikely to pile up enough money in the years I have left to work that will make anything really significant of the 401K . The market is volatile. The economy is cranking along pretty well at the moment, but if there is a downturn, or interest rates spike up again, that could affect the information technology sector. Research and Development funding from the Government has already been squeezed by the War and Katrina relief, and that is the heart of some of the contracting business in town. So, some people are looking at life transitions this year, and I'm glad my children are not small. But I will put that aside for the moment. I am headed out the door in about ten minutes to drive to Dulles and take wing for points west. I hope to be looking at Point Loma by evening, and marveling at the placid waters of San Diego Bay . I have always loved it there, and am toying with the idea of relocating. But I am a creature of Washington , and it would be a jerk to re-locate. It will be a strange week. The prognosis on Ariel Sharon is guarded, but they are going to try to bring him out of an induced coma and see how badly he has been damaged. Confirmation hearings for Judge Alito start today in the Senate; the witch-hunt for Abramoff corruption is continuing, though the House is not back; Tom Delay has thrown in the towel on the leadership issues, though he claims he will run for his seat again. And in Eastern Turkey , cases of bird flu are being reported. If human-to-human transmission is confirmed, it could be the beginning of another global drama. The world could change radically this week, and the affairs of Washington will not mean a great deal against the backdrop. I wonder what it will be like when I make the turn this Friday and head back for the East Coast. Life certainly is strange, isn't it? Copyright 2006 Vic Socotra www.vicsocotra.com |