BAR wrote:
Boater wrote:


Actually, he doesn't really have a job. He's an "at-will" employee, a
day worker, as it were, with no benefits whatsoever.

What benefits do I need? I take responsibility for my current needs and
my future needs.


To each his own. I am thankful for my many years of union membership and
the fact that I kept it up even though I haven't worked at my skilled
union trade for a long, long time. I've paid for my benefits, but thanks
to collective effort, they are far superior and at a lower price than I
could have purchased individually. Plus, they have been "portable," and
not related to payroll employment I have had since.

The pension I will be getting if ever I put in for it will be small, but
the health benefits all these years have been first-rate.

The best financial decision I ever made was the day after I realized for
certain "the stock market" was a fraud. I got almost entirely out of the
market then, and haven't looked back. Some of my buddies took a real
bath in their 401k accounts, and I feel for them.

I'm friendly with the head of investments at one of the international
union pension funds. They stopped investing in stocks about 25 years ago
because no matter what they bought, someone complained about the
corporation's behavior. I'm not familiar with their portfolio, but I do
know they keep well ahead of liabilities for their current and future
defined benefit pension holders.