tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17206839.post1696500234311505394..comments2023-09-09T09:26:22.175-04:00Comments on Andrew Samwick's Blog: The End of PensionsAndrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13514024573333057559noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17206839.post-21344781660741385772005-11-01T10:58:00.000-05:002005-11-01T10:58:00.000-05:00i actually do not think the end of pensions will h...i actually do not think the end of pensions will happen. we may be approaching a limit.<br><br>cash balance plans may be more the waive of the future, along with some notion of portability.<br><br>pensions have some advantages: stability, lower transaction fees, retention of key employees, professional money management, long-term investments that require professional money management, diversification of investor base, etc- <br><br>i do not think the life insurance or other can entirely replace these advantages (eg, elimination of all pensions implies less diversification of some sort...)<br><br>so i do not think that pensions should or will end entirely-<br><br>furthermore, in the near future you may see nice earnings surprise (positive) at big companies due to an increase in interest rates (present value of future liabilities for retirees looks smaller given higher discount rate). i am not for sure the market has considered this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17206839.post-64851835696091055952005-11-01T11:01:00.000-05:002005-11-01T11:01:00.000-05:00one more-another thing that needs to be explores i...one more-<br><br>another thing that needs to be explores is modification of pension benefits without bankruptcy. too many companies have an incentive to pursue bankruptcy, and intentionally become bankrupty, because htis is perceived as the only way to re-negotiate pensions and benefits.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17206839.post-59999068007811147242005-11-01T11:08:00.000-05:002005-11-01T11:08:00.000-05:00one last comment:pensions are the punching bag for...one last comment:<br><br>pensions are the punching bag for companies who have much bigger problems: uncompetitive products, neglecting to manage number of headcount, productivity problems, failure to adapt, etc-<br><br>united airlines will be an interesting test case on this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com