European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 21, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse                                8ss�mbmbstt contributors  Rel to us Max Bonete Iii i amt Cunn bmtl.mi.m77m.ooo  Smoot toss 1.tlmo  -5.m3.000 1,017000 10,510.000 a.44, m10o5tj.tii.ooo 4mmm ms�s�20,014,000 7,902,000 4142.000 100400.000 ii.mi. life in a Rose covered cottage in t Rosy on persons receiving retirement from pension plans in 1975 private state ind tool w by Philip Shabecoff new York times Hile the social Security system has Bee subject to debate and remedial action to re store it to some measure of fiscal sound Ness its difficulties Are Only part of a much broader and potentially More dangerous situation now moving toward congressional scrutiny i Hie entire system of retirement income in the United tastes is a crazy quilt that includes private pensions i Federal military state and local retirement plans Asi Well and it is widely regarded As at Best inadequate at i worst tottering into  the idealized vision of the older citizen s life is retire intent on an income adequate to a simple but dignified ex-liss0",? a Rose covered cottage or a modest condominium in Florida. But Many americans find that reality is All too different. According to Karen w. Ferguson director of the Washington based pension rights Center the retirement income system in this country is a disaster. An extraordinarily ugh proportion of our people  to one degree or another that View is shared by experts in and out of government. Sen. Jacob k. Javits re publican of new York finds considerable Inadequacy especially considering inflation. Along with sen. Harri son a. Williams jr., Democrat of new Jersey he was the moving Force behind the employee retirement income Security act of 1974, a first and important attempt to deals la the inadequacies of private pensions. Though the act established stronger fiduciary Stan Dards for pensions provided safeguards against fraud and other protections including preservation of a work ers investment after 10 years of employment acknowledged flaws  two senators have introduced amendments to improve the original hearings Are scheduled for next month. But Overall the Steps that have been taken to Correct the mouse our Jack built to be to Platom to feeding  shortcomings and abuses in both the private pension and the social Security systems Are generally conceded to be no More than aspirins to relieve the immediate symptoms of a much deeper affliction the Lack of a National retirement policy. In fact nobody seems to know Bow the various plans  one another or How the system As whole Alie cts the Economy. In an Industry based on numbers there Are few that anyone believes in. Private pension funds for example now aggregate about $280 billion. But although Many believe that Reservoir of private capital is not paving off As much As it should in terms of economic stimulus or retirement income there is no consensus on what an adequate retirement income is. Utter confusion almost anarchy is prevailing in our retirement income system says Noel Arnold Levin an attorney in new York specializing in pensions. Meanwhile demographic trends Are a potential time bomb. The country s population is growing older while the working age population is shrinking. In 1977, 28,427,000 americans receiving old age and survivors benefits were supported by a taxable work Force of 106,100,000. In the year 2000, an estimated 33.295, 000 people will be receiving old age benefits on a taxable work Force of 138,700,000. By the year 2030, the ratio willbe 63.412,000 to 150,100,000. Until recently As history is measured most workers depended on savings or the support of their children and other family members to see them through old age though Royalty for centuries pensioned off its favourites and military and civil service pensions were not unknown. The first known Industrial pension in this country was the american express company a in 1875. Now pension plans Are no longer considered Dre wards for faithful service they Are deferred wages with a Legal place in the collective bargaining pro Cess. But their deficiencies Are Many social Security. The system was enacted in 1335, in Friday july 21, 1978 Large part As insurance to alleviate depression poverty. And intended Only to be a floor on retirement income not a living Standard. But Many americans have no other financial resources in 1975, the median income of men living on social Security was 8,485 and of women 11,699. Private pensions. Only half of the work Force of 100 million american workers Are covered by private pen Sions. Of those covered perhaps half again actually receive income from those pensions. Many workers the exact number is being tabulated now by the pension Gua Rantee Benefit corporation created by the employment retirement act leave before they Are vested. Others die before they can collect. Even after the act s protections were in Force 20.00d plans folded. Plans that Are Inte grated with social Security sometimes pay nothing i Federal payments Rise. Fraud steals the resources of some others Are badly underfunded. State and local government pensions. As with Mili tary and civil service plans some Are regarded As out line a More pressing Issue is that Many Are not funded at All. Because no Money is being set aside now local government workers pensions will live to be paid out of general revenues when they retire creating a new an presumably onerous tax Burden. What can be done there Are almost As Manv proposals As there Are critics some commentators insist that the Only Way to provide equity and Protection for All americans is to amalgamate All retirement income systems including social  one Central system. They argue that a Universal pension would not Only end the confusion of the present retirement system butene its Basic unfairness. But others including jails. Think that putting All pen Sion systems under one umbrella would reduce retire ment income to the lowest common denominator and turn its Disper sement into a bureaucratic Nightmare. He believes that there should be coordination but no marriage. Proponents of an integrated system counter that it alone provides an incentive to improve the retire ment income of the poor. Specific suggestions and criticisms of each abound for social Security the chief thrust of reformers is to improve the benefits so that they provide an adequate retirement income not just a floor. Many also want to make social Security More progressive perhaps by funding at least part of the system through general revenues. Now lower income groups pay a relatively higher proportion of their incomes for social Security taxes. One repeated complaint about us private system is that few pensions Are portable from employer to employer. In a society As Mobile As the United state sit is argued portability and earlier vesting rights should be required. Pension fund managers often warn however that portability creates bookkeeping and funding difficult some commentators have also called for a general indexing of pensions to prices to protect retirees from inflation. But critics say that such indexing would be in itself be inflationary. Pension managers in particular insist that retirement income systems should be improved by modifying the Federal retirement act. Some of their demands would be answered in the amendments introduced by senators javits and Wil Liams. These include the creation of a single governmental authority with jurisdiction Over pension plans the reduction of paperwork to permit financial institutions to manage pension plans for Small businesses simpler fiduciary standards and tax incentives for Small business. People in the pension Field such As Levin feel that a Stu Ion to government must straighten things out and must a least give us Clear direct  the stars and stripes Page 13