| QUOTES from
the
Masters... |
| On Trust |
On Values/Principles |
| "Trust
men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show
themselves great." -- Ralph
Waldo Emerson
"A
person will not buy from you until he is convinced that you are a
friend
and are acting in his best interest. You must make this clear."
-–
Brian Tracy
"To
be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved." -– George
MacDonald
|
"The
principles you live by create the world you live in; if you change the
principles you live by, you will change your world." -- Blaine
Lee
"Freedom
requires that we learn and put into practice the three R's - Respect,
Responsibility,
and Restraint." -- Fr. Brian
Cavanaugh,
TOR
"Count
the cost first. Don't pay too big a price for pursuing minor
values."
-- Jim Rohn
|
|
The Pension
Crisis
I'm sure you've heard about
the problem our country faces with "Social Security, corporate
pensions,
state pensions, county pensions, municipal pensions...virtually all
defined
benefit pensions." The following abstracts from an industry
publication
really brought it home to me. This is a must read. I'll
call
soon to get your thoughts.
| OUR COUNTRY'S PENSION
CRISIS IN A NUTSHELL - Pension plans that promise a specific
benefit
in the future are essentially a contract between current and future
generations,
and those future generations aren't represented at the bargaining
table.
As a result, they get stuck guaranteeing the retirement income of their
elders while receiving nothing in return. This is the case for Social
Security,
corporate pensions, state pensions, county pensions, municipal
pensions...virtually
all defined benefit pensions!
PENSION PLAN PRESS
– With IBM freezing its pension plan, a plethora of articles on
the dim
future of the defined benefit pension plan concept have hit the press.
Here is a summation of what you need to know.
Brief history
- The corporate pension has been around since the 19th century, but
really
came into its own in the U.S. in the years just after World War II. The
defined benefit plans assumed lifetime jobs with a company, which
seemed
reasonable at the time, but has long since ceased being the American
norm.
Why is it happening?
- Companies are trying to become more competitive and adapt to changing
times. They must compete with younger companies that never made pension
promises or foreign companies where the government provides retirement
benefits or there are no benefits at all. IBM is paying about $270
million
to make the change but will save $2.5 billion over the next 5 years.
Why now?
–
Pension crises at steelmakers and airlines have brought the issue to a
head, but arcane accounting rules and low, long-term interest rates
mean
the accounting benefit for freezing a pension is higher than it would
be
if long-term rates rise.
Who's most vulnerable?
- Salaried employees since companies have to negotiate to cut benefits
for workers covered by collective bargaining.
What about earned
benefits?
- Companies can't cut pension benefits already earned, but the earned
benefits
in a defined benefit plan may be a lot less than expected.
Who gets hurt the most?
- Workers in their 40s and 50s who have been at the company many years.
Benefits build up fastest in an employee's final years at a
company...50%
of a person's pension may be earned in the last five years on the job.
Even with bigger 401(k) contributions, these workers may never catch up.
Who isn't hurt?
- Current retirees, younger workers and those who switch jobs
frequently.
Freezing versus
terminating
– Freezing locks the pension in place where it currently stands
actuarially
and the company is obligated to pay in the future. When employers
terminate
a pension, they must pay out all of the benefits immediately, either in
lump sums or by buying each worker an annuity. Most terminations are
due
to bankruptcy.
Companies at risk
– Those with a large percentage of older, longtime employees;
those with
employees not covered by a collective-bargaining agreement; those have
already cut some retiree benefits in the past.
GOOD RIDDANCE TO DEFINED
BENEFITS – Fortune sees the IBM pension plan freeze
as the beginning
of the end of traditional pensions in the U. S. and editorializes that
"corporate pensions are an unstable, unfair and economically perverse
means
of paying for retirement."
|
|
| MESSAGES
from
the Masters... |
FOUR
ESSENTIALS FOR HAPPINESS by Brian Tracy
You
may have a thousand different goals over the course of your lifetime,
but
they all will fall into one of four basic categories. Everything you do
is an attempt to enhance the quality of your life in one or more of
these
areas.
THE
KEY TO HAPPINESS
The
first category is your desire for happy relationships. You want to love
and be loved by others. You want to have a happy, harmonious home life.
You want to get along well with the people around you, and you want to
earn the respect of the people you respect. Your involvement in social
and community affairs results from your desire to have happy
interactions
with others and to make a contribution to the society you live in.
ENJOY
YOUR WORK
The
second category is your desire for interesting and challenging work.
You
want to make a good living, of course, but more than that, you want to
really enjoy your occupation or profession. The very best times of your
life are when you are completely absorbed in your work.
BECOME
FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT
The
third category is your desire for financial independence. You want to
be
free from worries about money. You want to have enough money in the
bank
so that you can make decisions without counting your pennies. You want
to achieve a certain financial state so that you can retire in comfort
and never have to be concerned about whether or not you have enough
money
to support your lifestyle. Financial independence frees you from
poverty
and a need to depend upon others for your livelihood. If you save and
invest
regularly throughout your working life, you will eventually reach the
point
where you will never have to work again.
ENJOY
EXCELLENT HEALTH
The
fourth and final category is your desire for good health, to be free of
pain and illness and to have a continuous flow of energy and feelings
of
well-being. In fact, your health is so central to your life that you
take
it for granted until something happens to disrupt it.
PEACE
OF MIND IS THE KEY
Peace
of mind is essential for every one of these. The greater your peace of
mind, the more relaxed and positive you are, the less stress you
suffer,
the better is your overall health.
The
more peace of mind you have, the better are your relationships, the
more
optimistic, friendly and confident you are with everyone in your life.
When you feel good about yourself on the inside, you do your work
better
and take more pride in it. You are a better boss and coworker. And the
greater your overall peace of mind, the more likely you are to earn a
good
living, save regularly for the future and ultimately achieve financial
independence.
CONTROL
YOUR ATTENTION
Life
is very much a study of attention. Whatever you dwell upon and think
about
grows and expands in your life. The more you pay attention to your
relationships,
the quality and quantity of your work, your finances and your health,
the
better they will become and the happier you will be.
ACTION
EXERCISES
Here
are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into
action.
First,
take time on a regular basis to think about what would make you really
happy in each of the four areas.
Second,
set specific, measurable goals for improvement in your relationships,
your
health, your work and your finances and write them down.
Third,
resolve to do something every day to increase the quality of some area
of your life - and then keep your resolution. |
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