<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: [CAUT] FW: Univ. of Tenn. Job Opening for Piano Technician</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> Hey, Jeff, Very good post – I couldn’t have said it better myself.  I almost didn’t take this job two years ago when I found out exactly what the pay would be and how non-negotiable it was.  In the end, though, my desire to no longer drive 40,000 miles per year won out.  Now I do 40 hours here, plus one full day a week with my own clients, and make about what I did before.  When you count the driving time, though, I probably spend about the same amount of time away from home now in six days as I did before in five. I have to take exception to your comment about pensions, though.  The return on 401(k) plans depends strictly on where you put your money.  TIAA-CREF isn’t the only thing out there – unless that’s the only thing your employer will allow.  If that is the case, you’re probably better off with a Roth IRA.  The reason 401(k) plans exist is because they often do outperform pensions, and because they are portable.  Both of these characteristics are due to the fact that the individual owns the plan, and that’s the most important part.  A pension is simply a promise to pay in the future; a 401(k) or IRA is capital that you own.  If you compare the performance, you need to make sure you’re comparing actual performances, not merely the performance of the retirement plan vs. the promises of the pension.  Nearly every defined benefit pension plan in the country is underfunded, from Social Security right on down to our little state college.  By the time we retire in 20 or 30 years, I don’t even want to think about what it might look like.  The tax rates necessary to make all the payments are scary, to say the least.  On the other hand, if you manage your retirement plan at all wisely (eg, don’t put all your money into Wilbur’s Widgets, Inc.), you know you’ll have something.  You guys can have your pensions if you want.  I’ll take my chances investing in wealth-producing American business, rather than trusting in the promises of politicians and bureaucrats, and in their ability to keep sucking tax money out of the people who really work for a living. Have a happy day, Ken Z. -- Ken Zahringer, RPT University of Missouri School of Music </BODY> </HTML>