That could be the motto of many senior executives of such companies as Intel, Hartmarx, Albany International, Illinois Tool Works, Oneida, Parker Hannifin. Basically, these companies and others are moving their pension money into their employees' pension funds. Why? The company gets tax benefits, the executives get more money.
As part of the move to a more just world in the 20th century, the Federal government allowed employers to take a tax deduction for monies contributed to a pension fund for the rank and file. Monies contributed in a disproportionate manner were not tax deductible.
Need I say that compensation consultants earn money by advising executives how to use the tax laws to get richer? The consultants and the companies spend hours, nay days, moving people into high-salaried and low-salaried groups until they get the right groups, "right" being that which favors the executives without running the risk of losing the tax benefit.
We get screwed because the company can take a tax deduction on what is essentially a gravy train for the executives. The workers get screwed because in many cases most of the money in the pension fund will go to the higher-ups; e.g., in the case of Intel only 4% of the pension fund will go to the workers.
1 comment:
There is just no way to satisfy greed. Just goes to show how privatizing social security would have worked.
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