You can’t make America great without killing the 401(k) and bringing back real pensions

Sir, not certain that I can but I am under one of the benefit pension plans. Non-union and well funded. The company’s that doesn’t fund their plan or borrow from it will be the last to go back to the pension benefit

MSgt John McGowan, of course there are many companies that still offer defined benefit (DB) programs. However, the number of companies that do so is diminishing rapidly, and new companies most generally offer defined contribution plans and/or 401(k) plans. I wasn't very clear, but I meant that as where most companies used to offer DB plans, the pendulum has clearly swung away from them to stay, in my opinion.

Now if we can follow that up with the elimination of employer paid health insurance while getting the health insurance companies OUT of paying for primary care.... Then we'd really get things cooking.

MCPO Roger Collins, granted, not all DB plans have the lump sum option. I will say though, that we have access to a number of income producing platforms that allow for spousal continuation, and even have a death benefit associated with it that may go to the children/heir upon the death of the spouse.

My planning for the future began at the age of 18 when I joined the Navy. $37.50 per month out of a $77.10 per month pay. The funny thing is my full retirement was based on the old three legged stool plan noted in Social Security written material.

MSgt John McGowan - I was never in a union but I dealt with union members. Some, not all felt the same way, would say, "Why am I spending money I worked for to support a union trip to Las Vegas every year and get practically nothing in return?" This was during the 80s and 90s when union membership was falling off dramatically. Union membership fell from 32 percent of the work force in 1953 to 20 percent in 1983. In 2014 membership rates for public and private unions were 11.1% according to the department of labor.

Who has more job security and benefits than government workers? Oh well, no problem we are paying for them?

Industry and Occupation of Union Members In 2016, 7.1 million employees in the public sector belonged to a union, compared with 7.4 million workers in the private sector. The union membership rate for public-sector workers (34.4 percent) was substantially higher than the rate for private-sector workers (6.4 percent).Jan 26, 2017

They are a terrible economic model, very difficult to forecast and if the company goes under you loose your pension, if your manager gets upset with you after 25 good years you loose your pension. I'll take a 401k in my account (it is mine, a pension is an IOU) any day as long as the benefit amounts are comparable.