Meanwhile, Across the Pond...
The Brits are struggling with pensions just like we Yanks are:
Projections suggest that these reforms could save the taxpayer £67bn over 50 years. But many in the public sector are angry, believing they have been cheated, while private sector employees are fearful because many have next to nothing in the pension pot.The divide and rule policy that appears to be a government tactic, pitting private sector taxpayers against public sector employees (who also, of course, pay tax), distracts from an unavoidable truth: shamefully, UK pensions are among the worst in western Europe, across the public and private sectors. In 2009-10, for instance, said the Hutton review, a local government worker received an annual pension of £4,052; a civil servant £6,199 and a teacher £9,806 [$15863 US -!!!]. Hutton found that only 1% of workers (mostly NHS doctors and consultants) received pay outs of £37,000 or more a year.In the 19th century, "the man from the Pru" would knock on a working man's door to collect what he could afford as insurance against (often brief) old age. Today, that habit is rare.