Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 - Siphon: HOW COMPANIES PLUNDER THE PENSION PIGGY BANKS
CHAPTER 2 - Heist: REPLENISHING PENSION ASSETS BY CUTTING BENEFITS
CHAPTER 3 - Profit Center: HOW PENSION AND RETIREE HEALTH PLANS BOOST EARNINGS
CHAPTER 4 - Health Scare: INFLATING RETIREE HEALTH LIABILITIES TO BOOST PROFITS
CHAPTER 5 - Portfolio Management: SWAPPING POPULATIONS OF RETIREES FOR CASH AND PROFITS
CHAPTER 6 - Wealth Transfer: THE HIDDEN BURDEN OF SPIRALING EXECUTIVE PENSIONS ...
CHAPTER 7 - Death Benefits: HOW DEAD PEASANTS HELP FINANCE EXECUTIVE PAY
CHAPTER 8 - Unfair Shares: USING EMPLOYEES’ PENSIONS TO FINANCE EXECUTIVE LIABILITIES
CHAPTER 9 - Project Sunshine: A HUMAN RESOURCES PLOT TO DISSOLVE RETIREE BENEFITS
CHAPTER 10 - Twilight Zone: HOW EMPLOYERS USE PENSION LAW TO THWART RETIREES
CHAPTER 11 - In Denial: INCENTIVES TO WITHHOLD BENEFITS
CHAPTER 12 - Epitaph: THE GAMES CONTINUE
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First published in 2011 by Portfolio / Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Copyright © Ellen E. Schultz, 2011
All rights reserved
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Schultz, Ellen. Retirement heist: how companies plunder and profit from the nest eggs of American workers / Ellen E. Schultz. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN : 978-1-101-44607-2
1. Pensions—United States. 2. Corporations—Moral and ethical aspects—
United States. 3. Life insurance policies—United States. I. Title.
HD7125.S38 2011
331.25’20973—dc22
2011015064
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Introduction
IN DECEMBER 2010, General Electric held its Annual Outlook Investor Meeting at Rockefeller Center in New York City. At the meeting, chief executive Jeffrey Immelt stood on the
The audience had every reason to believe him. An escalating chorus of bloggers, pundits, talk show hosts, and media stories bemoan the burgeoning pension-and-retirement crisis in America, and GE was just the latest of hundreds of companies, from IBM to Verizon, that have slashed pensions and medical benefits for millions of American retirees. To justify these cuts, companies complain that they’re victims of a “perfect storm” of uncontrollable economic forces—an aging workforce, entitled retirees, a stock market debacle, and an outmoded pension system that cripples their chances of competing against pensionless competitors and companies overseas.
