Author Archives: Emily Holbrook

About Emily Holbrook

Emily Holbrook is a former editor of the Risk Management Monitor and Risk Management magazine. You can read more of her writing at EmilyHolbrook.com.
Игроки всегда ценят удобный и стабильный доступ к играм. Для этого идеально подходит зеркало Вавады, которое позволяет обходить любые ограничения, обеспечивая доступ ко всем бонусам и слотам.

Are Pension Plans on the Guillotine?

Posted on by

As if we weren’t tired of continuously depressing and pessimistic news on the economy, the new fear is that employee pension plans are on the chopping block. The main reason for this is that, because of abysmal stock performance, companies are being forced to contribute more and more money to their plans to keep them fully funded. This makes it very difficult for companies with little cash to expend right now (which would be most organizations) and the fact that the credit crunch makes it tough to borrow the necessary funds to supply these plans.

To rectify this situation, many companies are choosing to freeze pensions now in order to save money in the long run. Another option several organizations are looking at is switching from pension plans to a 401(k), which are employee-managed and not tied to the certain rules and restrictions that pensions are. And no one can take your 401(k) away except, as in the current case, a faltering stock market.

An ABC News article on the subject pointed to companies such as Newhouse Newspapers and Motorola, which have either cut or suspended pension plan funding. A.H. Belo Corp., owner of four daily newspapers including The Dallas Morning News and The Providence Journal, stated today that they will cut employee salaries and suspend retirement supplements to pension plan participants. Is this a trend?

UPenn’s Wharton School of Business published an interesting, yet fearful article about the shortfalls in retirement planning. Wharton professor Olivia Mitchell, who has been quoted in numerous, recent articles on the subject, also offers an informative video lesson on retirement risk management, where she focuses on “reinventing retirement.” (see below)

If you’re already fed up with this dismal news, I would recommend you skip The Motley Fool’s article on how the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), the federal agency that insures retirement funds, switched their investment plan from bonds to stocks shortly before the start of last year’s stock market collapse.

With all this news, it leaves us thinking – are defined employee pensions the dinosaur of retirement plans, facing extinction, or are they merely confronting a tough road ahead, only to re-emerge and prosper in the long run?

 

 

One Rousing Resignation Letter

Posted on by

As if you haven’t heard enough AIG news, Edward Liddy, the CEO of AIG, was sent a 1,500 word resignation letter by soon-to-be-former employee Jake DeSantis, who, like Liddy, accepted a $1 annual salary in return for large bonus payments. DeSantis, of AIG’s Financial Products division, penned a powerful, and quite eloquent, letter claiming Liddy’s actions are unjust and those “in the financial products unit have been betrayed by AIG and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials.” It is because of this that Santos, and presumably more to follow, is resigning.

DeSantis points to the fact that the blame is on the credit default swap losses and not the financial products division. He swears to keep his $742,006.40 after-tax retention payment because most of those receiving the bonus “have done nothing wrong and guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings.”

And though he has refused to surrender the money for which he was contractually bound to receive, he does have generous plans for it. As DeSantis himself points out, “some might argue that members of my profession have been overpaid, and I wouldn’t disagree.” So, instead of keeping all 2,000, he will donate 100% of the effective after-tax proceeds to those suffering from the global economic downturn.

This seems to put us in a difficult situation.

buy prelone online https://ozgurmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/prelone.html no prescription pharmacy

Should the American people feel sympathy for DeSantis and others at AIG in his situation or anger over their steadfast refusal to return their taxpayer-derived payments?

buy periactin online https://ozgurmd.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/periactin.html no prescription pharmacy

Fargo Braces for Red River Breach

Posted on by

Thousands of volunteers have been working for days, filling sand bags and erecting makeshift levees in an attempt to stem the flood waters of the Red River, which lies on the border between Minnesota and North Dakota.

buy prograf online imed.isid.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/prograf.html no prescription pharmacy

The continuing snowfall has not helped matters – the area accumulated three more inches of snow last night and the precipitation continues.

Farther north, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Red River has risen 10 feet in three days and is expected to reach 20 feet by late Thursday.

As for North Dakota, eight rivers are currently at flood levels. Even worse, the mammoth Red River is currently 15 feet above flood stage and may surpass the 41.1 foot record set in 1897. Because of this, President Obama declared the state a disaster area.

The U.S. Geological Survey has a Web site devoted to the most significant floods in the U.

buy cozaar online imed.isid.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/cozaar.html no prescription pharmacy

S. during the 20th century. Because spring is prime time for flooding, a new Web page was launched by the National Weather Service and FEMA to mark National Flood Safety Awareness Week.

Alarmingly, a 2008 poll by the Insurance Information Institute found that only 17% of Americans have a flood insurance policy.

buy clomiphene online imed.isid.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/clomiphene.html no prescription pharmacy

A Century of Red River Flooding in Fargo

1897

Fargo, North Dakota – 1897 (Photo: USGS)

Fargo, 1997 (USGS)

Fargo, North Dakota – 1997 (Photo: USGS)

Fargo, North Dakota - 1897 (Photo: USGS)

Fargo, North Dakota – 1897 (Photo: USGS)

Fargo, North Dakota - 1997 (Photo: USGS)

Fargo, North Dakota – 1997 (Photo: USGS)

AIG Execs Finally Do Right

Posted on by

It seems it was too much weight on the conscience of those AIG executives who received undeserved bonuses. Or maybe it was the call from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to each of the 20 executives who received the highest rewards that did it.

buy antabuse online dentalhacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/antabuse.html no prescription pharmacy

Either way, 15 of the 20 have paid back their entire bonus. Cuomo stated that approximately $50 million of the $165 million has been returned so far and he expects even more AIG employees will hand over their loot.

Cuomo said he expects to recoup about million, which accounts mostly for the amount paid to American employees. Bonuses paid to non-Americans will be difficult to recoup since it is out of their jurisdiction.

The Treasury Department, citing documents from AIG, said bonuses ranged from $1,000 to nearly $6.5 million for more than 400 employees and future employees.

buy stromectol online dentalhacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/stromectol.html no prescription pharmacy

Seven employees received more than million.

buy bactroban online dentalhacks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/jpg/bactroban.html no prescription pharmacy

Awards of $1 million or more were paid to 73 employees, including 11 who no longer work there.

“I applaud the employees who are returning their bonuses,” Cuomo stated late yesterday. “I think they are being responsive to the American people.”

Well done Mr. Cuomo, but are the American people satisfied with an expected return of only half of the total amount paid out?