Comments on: Retirement Advice from Corporate Executives

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 01:39:46 +0000

Anonymous, I agree, the advice focused on planning and deferred consumption and those are principles that will work across all income levels.

BUT

High paid executives have much more money to work with. They make enough money that it’s much easier for them to max out their 401ks and save money. Even with deferred consumption its easier for them to live a comfortable lifestyle, whereas in order for the a regular worker to max out the 401k, they’d have to sacrifice a great deal more.

I do agree it’s good the company is trying to raise awareness but I still think it would have been more effective if they would have profiled a different sector of the workforce.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 02:24:55 +0000

Based on your summary, none of the advice given remotely focused on maximizing income by moving up the corporate ladder.

All of the advice focused on planning and deferred consumption.

Planning and deferred consumption are principles that will work across all income levels.

Based on that, I’m assuming that the judgment made in choosing retired execs to speak to this issue was something along the lines of: “Hey, retired Senior Muckity Muck was only able to retire early due to planning and deferred consumption. That logic applies across all income levels, so pointing that fact out will build unity within the Company and be beneficial advice to our workers. Plus, even though he’s retired, ex-Senior Muckity Muck will feel obligated to contribute to this article because he was an executive. If we ask a line worker to give their story, that’s extra work for them w/o compensation, which isn’t fair, and exposes them to risk that we shouldn’t ask them to shoulder (a la your not publicizing this website.”

For the record, I’m not an executive. I am an employee at a shop that gives zero guidance on financial issues. Because of that, I’m impressed that your shop does give financial advice, even if they give it imperfectly. I’ve thought often of putting together a seminar on common sense financial issues (e.g., don’t buy a fancy car, save an emergency fund, etc.), but haven’t pursued it because the political risks aren’t worth it personally (e.g., persuading someone to build an emergency fund entails convincing them they can be canned tomorrow).

By: Ben

Ben — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 21:17:49 +0000

Nice work bill, sounds like you guys are on the right track. Where did you fall on the salary scale during the years you worked?

You’re right MoneyNing, I don’t advertise this site to my co-workers because sometimes I write about work issues.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 18:27:21 +0000

ben: Maybe you should approach them and say you want to hold meeting and help explain the principles to everyone since you are part of the workforce and can relate to everyone else better. But then you might not be able to cover the fact that you own a personal finance site if you do so

bill: Good for you! I’m still young but this is definitely what I’m trying to do!!

By: bill

bill — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 02:40:20 +0000

My wife and I are in our 50s, and our cash worth (not including the mortgage-free house) is just over seven figures. We did it using those techniques. I think that for us the key was ’stick as much away as often as you can; get into some kind of investment club-401k, mutuals, whatever’.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:37:38 +0000

I can see how this can be slightly irritating to the company’s regular workforce. I think it would irritate me as well. CNN recently posted an article about how CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies earn 360+ times the amount of the average worker in their company. If you can’t retire on that, I don’t know what it would take. Most of the CEOs also have defined plans that will pay them well into their golden years, if not pay them for life. Like you, I would prefer to hear about how a mid-level manager prepared for retirement and was successful.