Posted by: "danmayerinetport" dm47@... danmayerinetport Tue May 15, 2012 3:58 pm (PDT) I'm not trying to say that IBM is wonderful. I'm trying to say...
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willbefree25
May 16, 2012 4:05 pm
... I wasn't being flip, I actually thought it was four years of medical for two people, given the choices you make. I didn't realize it was only four years...
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willbefree25
May 16, 2012 4:14 pm
Nope, I said we need a 'contract'. Kathi said we need a 'contract'. You telling Kathi what to do now?...
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justa_bean_counter
justa_bean_c...
May 16, 2012 4:14 pm
Nobody has said we need a union. Those posts never made it here. Calling of derogotory names has never made it here either. Neither has opinions about...
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justa_bean_counter
justa_bean_c...
May 16, 2012 5:45 pm
This from the American Benefits Council (not our friend). Text of Letter to Congress by American Benefits Council and Others, Urging DB Funding Interest Rate...
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justa_bean_counter
justa_bean_c...
May 16, 2012 5:52 pm
GAO Testimony on Unemployed Older Workers Facing Long-Term Joblessness and Reduced Retirement Security Testimony by Director, Education, Workforce, and Income...
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kady101@...
May 16, 2012 7:11 pm
Sure about that? Companies (and state/local governments, and pension plans themselves) have a wide latitude in selecting the interest rate assumptions they use...
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donwshuper50
May 16, 2012 7:46 pm
FWIW here is an excerpt from the Boeing Annual report on how they calculate pension returns and the effects of a small change in assumptions . . ... Pension...
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kady101@...
May 16, 2012 8:20 pm
Exactly. 5.3% is a perfectly responsible target to calculate to, IMO. If you factor out the generational negative of 2008, that's ABOUT what a portfolio which...
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danmayerinetport
danmayerinet...
May 16, 2012 10:58 pm
So the company complaint is that the Fed has been depressing interest rates for years, reducing earnings of assets held by pension plans. The federal gov't...
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justa_bean_counter
justa_bean_c...
May 16, 2012 11:15 pm
You're asking ME what I would do? New on your job? Kathi...
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donwshuper50
May 16, 2012 11:40 pm
...The federal gov't also defines "Fully Funded" (which of course is actually a definition that allows companies to not fully fund the plan).... Suggest you...
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danmayerinetport
danmayerinet...
May 17, 2012 12:03 am
... So I take your post to mean that you think it's wrong for these companies to ask for relief so they can increase/maintain profit. If I've got that right,...
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justa_bean_counter
justa_bean_c...
May 17, 2012 12:07 am
You got it right. It is wrong. It is illegal to manipulate the discount rate, which is why they are lobbying to change the law. Am betting they don't win...
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donwshuper50
May 17, 2012 12:52 am
This may be a waste of time or effort- but let me try a VERY simplified explanation of effects of discount rates IF the rate is such that ' expected' returns...
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kady101@...
May 17, 2012 1:04 am
The Fed sets the discount rate. It can't be changed by anyone else, period. That's not what they're lobbying for. The funding rate is currently set at whatever...
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justa_bean_counter
justa_bean_c...
May 17, 2012 1:05 am
No they don't. Study pension accounting. Kathi...
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kady101@...
May 17, 2012 1:57 am
The Fed Discount Rate is the Fed Discount Rate, and it is set by the Board of Directors of the Fed every 14 days. That is a simple fact, easily verifiable, and...
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justa_bean_counter
justa_bean_c...
May 17, 2012 2:11 am
You still need to study pension accounting and while you are at it, here is ERIC (not our friends either) putting in their lobby efforts to get the same rules...
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albanyblue2000
May 17, 2012 11:00 am
Dan, there's a flaw in the logic presented by those employers. The lowered interest rates provide for employers to borrow from the government cheaply. That...
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kady101@...
May 17, 2012 11:07 am
We were talking about two entirely different "discount rates", let's leave it at that. It is not a matter of "having to study". Kady ... From:...
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justa_bean_counter
justa_bean_c...
May 17, 2012 11:11 am
I know all about the Fed Discount Rate. I go 'into the pool' and 'out of the pool' each and every day. Securities are my thing. Lately, the tax exempt...
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kady101@...
May 17, 2012 12:02 pm
Tax exempt FNMA? You have my attention. I want. Buy through any broker? Kady ... From: justa_bean_counter Sent: 05/17/12 06:06 AM To:...
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teamb562
May 17, 2012 1:06 pm
Kathi, is this an item for call to action? Should we (all) be writing Congress on this matter? If so, could you please or someone else in the know provide...
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kady101@...
May 17, 2012 1:12 pm
Nuance here: Corporations can't borrow from the government. Only banks can. That's why Goldman Sachs bought some podunk bank in Utah in 2008, so they could...
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justa_bean_counter
justa_bean_c...
May 17, 2012 1:14 pm
No,not yet. This has a long way to go before we get there. Lobbying takes a long tome before a sponsor writes the bill, etc. There are a lot of people here...
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justa_bean_counter
justa_bean_c...
May 17, 2012 1:24 pm
Which is why we need a contract. We can continue this conversion at the ibmemloyeeissues yahoo board. Kathi...
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justa_bean_counter
justa_bean_c...
May 17, 2012 2:00 pm
Personally? They are all underwater in my opinion. But as long as the government keeps the buy-back programs alive, it keeps them afloat, so we as a nation...
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chz_whiz
May 17, 2012 2:42 pm
Older_bassman, Are you using FHA funds to pay the total insurance premium? I'm not condoning what IBM has done with retiree health care, and particularly not...
