Detroit Diesel has started to do what Delphi tried to do - increase the contribution from retirees for their health care costs. This is going to go through the industry, and is a necessity for the American auto industry to survive, as the current model is untenable.
This is what happens when you try to project life expectancy, investment returns, health care costs, and interest rates and further than a few years. Defined benefits as we know it are dead. Deal with it.
This is what happens when you try to project life expectancy, investment returns, health care costs, and interest rates and further than a few years. Defined benefits as we know it are dead. Deal with it.
I see a lot of people complaining about this. How Delphi, GM and all that are breaking their 'promises' to the retirees. First - if you actually believed that these companies would keep their promise, given the history of labour-management relations in this country - you were a fool. The kind of fool who believes that a 20 year old will actually get a social security cheque. Second, if you didn't save any money, and pissed it all away on cars, boats, cottages, well... sorry, you should have thought better. Those of us who are not unionized have to save for our own retirement and pay for our own health care. The alternatives are pay out of pocket or get nothing when the plans go insolvent.
No comments:
Post a Comment