Florida lawmakers are considering legislation that would eliminate retirement plan choice for state employees. The proposed measure would do away with defined benefit pensions for newly-hired employees, offering only a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan.
Other states and localities that have implemented dramatic shifts to their public employee retirement plans have experienced unfortunate, unintended consequences – from skyrocketing costs to losing experienced employees who deliver essential public services. In some cases, governments have actually re-instated their pension plans after the experiment proved a fiscal failure.
Read here the Forbes column by Dan Doonan, executive director of the National Institute on Retirement Security.
