The Kansas City Star takes a look at pension plans available to 5 million American public sector workers instead of Social Security. Most of the workers covered by these plans are firemen, policemen and teachers.
A paper by the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank, notes that on average non-Social Security plans pay between 3.3 and 7.5 times the annual benefit of Social Security.
“They certainly show that investing in real capital assets, given a long investing timeline and broad diversification, you can provide a better benefit,” said Michael Tanner, a Cato Institute expert on Social Security.
But as the fight in Washington heats up over how to reform the massive safety net, opinions vary as to whether such pension systems — many of them quite successful — could be copied on a larger scale.
The Star requires a free registration, but this story is worth the effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment