When you mess around with state pension plans, you’re messing with the future of workers
by John Burbank
 

Mar 21, 2012

Are you saving for your retirement? If you are working, you are. You put 4.1 percent of your paycheck into Social Security, through the FICA tax. Now consider if we had no Social Security. Understandably, the vast majority of workers would be worried about paying the bills on their current income, their coinsurance for health coverage, and their mortgage, not to mention saving for college for their kids. Retirement savings? That can be put off another day, month, year, decade. And that is what gets us into trouble when we actually do retire and look for some income to help us along in our declining years.

So we have the people’s pension—Social Security. But even though we all contribute to Social Security, it is no gravy train. The average Social Security benefit is $1,067 a month. We need other retirement savings. Read more.