Will Wiener

Comments:

• We have established programs and tax policies that address the issue you raise. Earned income tax credit (EITC) and SNAP as well as the child tax credit. Benefits can be significant - I calculated that a family of four earning 35 K, which would be close to New York’s minimum wage would have about 16-18 K of benefits from EITC and SNAP.

  Post: Quinn ponders the minimum wage, a living wage and the possible consequences of changes for all

  Link to comment from September 7, 2024

• https://mclagan.aon.com/aon.mclagan/media/files/2020/2020_07_CEO-pay-for-private-vs-public-companies.pdf?ext=.pdf Located a 2020 Aon study indicating CEO pay targets dramatically above your BLS indication covering A broad range of public and private entities.

  Post: Jonathan is right, employers don’t care, but that’s not the real problem- it’s people

  Link to comment from September 3, 2024

• I think the number of 400K is impossible for public company CEO’s. Median number for S and P 500 is shown on line as 16.3 million. Additionally, there may be Very valuable exit packages. pls look at Randall Stephenson of ATT whose pension was valued at 64 million this is after engineering two failed acquisitions - Direct TV and Warner i have no problem with rewarding a CEO who delivers great operating or deal making results. But comp is often influenced by stock price and that is subject to many extraneous factors. I did not mention public companies in my initial comment as I assumed that your article was about a public company.

  Post: Jonathan is right, employers don’t care, but that’s not the real problem- it’s people

  Link to comment from September 2, 2024

• Leaving aside the fact that executive comp in the U.S. is a scandal, isn’t it better to have institutions that manage long term liabilities in a responsible manner rather than have them threaten the company’s future ? The auto industry was never able to deal with retiree health care and the result was bankruptcies at GM and Chrysler and extreme financial stress at Ford. Many public sector pension plans and retiree health plans are huge headaches as well - will not go into the causes. Maybe a good approach for companies like Mr. Quinn’s would be to provide some stock options to employees losing expected but not contractually promised benefits.

  Post: Jonathan is right, employers don’t care, but that’s not the real problem- it’s people

  Link to comment from September 2, 2024

• Pennsylvania dies not tax retirement income (pensions, 401 k’s etc) and it makes up for that through the use of an inheritance tax. But the rate structure of the inheritance tax has always seemed questionable to me. it jumps from 4.5 Pct for children to 12Pct for siblings and 15 Pct for nieces, nephews and all other inheritors. Is it really appropriate fir the state to impose differential tax rates in this manner ? People have many reasons they may wish to leave assets to inheritors other than their children, or they may simply not have children. Rate structure of this type does not seem reasonable to me.

  Post: A Time to Give

  Link to comment from August 24, 2024

• I believe the reforms passed in 1983 were supposed to be adequate to fund the system for 75 years. But now it seems that they will barely make it to about 50 years. One of the reasons I understand is that revenue forecasts were based on payroll tax revenue covering 90Pct of wage income but SS funding has been running in the 83 Pct range as a result of long term changes in wage distribution. is this the main reason for the 1983 failure? How should it be addressed ?

  Post: Quinn’s musings on Social Security and the preponderance of misinformation about the program.

  Link to comment from July 19, 2024

• I don’t think you are being unrealistic. But it may be that the idea of an annuity appeals to you because your expectation of a pension conditioned you to focus on the concept of a guaranteed income. if you had no pension, you might have dealt with longevity risk by over saving. Suppose you had arrived at retirement with an asset base that supported a withdrawal rate of 2.5 Pct. Would you still be attracted to annuities.

  Post: Is an automatic income stream in retirement unrealistic?

  Link to comment from June 25, 2024

• Jonathan, In the post private pension era, a great need emerged for investors and retirees to have access to sophisticated and unbiased financial planning information. You have brought great passion to dealing with this need for which you deserve high praise and appreciation. Wishing you and your family the best.

  Post: The C Word

  Link to comment from June 16, 2024

• By what percentage did the “income jackpot”, increase your pension. i understand that many pensions use income from the last few years of employment to determine benefits.

  Post: Luck Would Have It

  Link to comment from May 25, 2024

• Looks like Medicare Advantage is turning Into a public policy fiasco.Current article in Barron’s indicates that Federal spending on Medicare in 88 billion per year higher as a result of MA. where is this money going - insurance companies lower income Americans who want to avoid Medigap premiums but dont recognize they could be on the hook for large out of pocket costs under some circumstances - not to mention all of the other negatives mentioned in this very useful post. if 25 million people are in MA, we would be better off giving low income seniors a subsidy on medigap of 1000-1500 per year. of course, stockholders in many insurers would not be happy. MA joins things like student loans And multi employer pensions as ideas that sounded useful but brought many unexpected, deleterious consequences.

  Post: What Advantage?

  Link to comment from March 27, 2024