How Secure Is a Retirement That Depends on Corporate Stock, Company Pensions, or Corporate Longevity?

The previous notion, that big corporations were the economic safety net of the American worker, is quickly being dashed, as some of the nations largest, and most stable companies; such as IBM, Verizon, Hewlett-Packard, Sears Holdings Corp., Circuit City Stores, Inc., Hospira Inc., Motorola, Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp., Aon Corp., and NCR Corp., to name a few, are all rushing to free themselves of the escalating expense of providing and maintaining pension plans. The Enron fiasco proved, among other things, that it is risky business to put all of your retirement nest egg in one corporate basket. The subsequent disclosures, of numerous big corporations “cooking the books,” that sent the market into a frenzy, from which it is still reeling, continues to add emphasis that we cannot blindly assume that large companies, in which we either invest or are employeed, are looking out for our best interest. Placing retirement assets into securities products, based in the market, and investing in big corporations, will always carry tremendous risk. While investing in corporate America will remain a major source of potential financial growth and wealth for the savvy investor, the individual needs to be less greedy, and more realistic about their desire, or ability, to take risks with their financial future. Relying on the stock market to grow your 401(k), to make up for your lack of sufficient savings, compounds a risk on money you can ill afford to lose. Counting on your company, or even Social Security, to take care of you at retirement is a foolish risk of another kind. Because of a changing economy, we are entering an age of increased individual financial accountability. While things could continue to change drastically, as we move through this adjustment, presently, there are tools available to help individuals assume this responsibility with confidence. Thousands of INDEPENDENT financial advisors are scattered around the country, ready to assist workers and retirees with making this transition. Products, like fixed and indexed annuities, allow the older workers, and retirees, a suitable substitution for the disappearing certainties and guarantees of company pension plans.