The Pension Gamble (full documentary) | FRONTLINE

Nothing like a frontline doc to sober me up to reality and get off my a**. The message I take away from every doc is that trust isn’t something ever to be assumed. We’re truly on our own out here.

I have sat on pension fund boards and can tell you their are a lot of vested interests. When I started querying investments and performance it was seen as being problematic. When I started questioning fees and charges I was seen as being a troublemaker. I remember asking the investment manager what methodology he used to allocate funds when buying and selling shares. He asked why ? I told him he created fees for his firm every-time he bought and every-time he sold shares, why have you purchased shares in a particular company only to sell it one month later for the same price. What was the underlying reason ? He couldn’t answer. We all know the answer. No interest like self interest.

What's amazing to me is that no one mentioned the idea of legally preventing politicians from stealing from the pension funds to get reelected. Or establishing a minimum level of financial literacy to be in charge of billions of dollars...

The oldest guy at the steel company I work at in Northern Indiana is 88 years old. He hired in 1955 and now in 2023 he has over 68 years seniority. He is 88 years old and refuses to retire. His wife died 20 years ago and only son passed at some point. He tells everyone they will have to carry him out of here. He still shows up everyday ready to work. He was forced to take his pension at age 70 which he collects monthly along with his full social security both penalty-free along with his bi-weekly earnings from the steel mill. He also has a 401k (no company matching since we have defined pension) where he has told people he has over 2 Million in it. I think it's like the movie Shawshank Redemption. The old guy "Brooks" the librarian was afraid to be released from prison because he is institutionalized and prison was all he ever knew. Once they released him, he didn't last long.

"The pensions that disappear the moment you go to collect them"- George Carlin

Legislators took from the pensions to fund the budget. When no one cried "foul," they became emboldened and took more. This sounds just like how a private embezzlement starts and perpetuates, until it's too big not to be noticed. Yet politicians don't go to prison for it.

I remember my ex-husband, a cop, saying a few years ago, “It’s alright. I got my pension.” For some reason, this weird feeling came over me like, “What? I find it hard to believe there’d be a pension waiting at the end in this day and age.” I just had this feeling that pensions were not secure. 3 years later I’m watching this video.

Sickening how corrupt this system is. Just pathetic!!

“…and now they’re coming for your social security money. and they’re gonna get it. they’re gonna get all of it. cuz they own this fuckin place” -George Carlin

Dear Frontline, when I was a child I seen a Frontline documentary that made me fall in love with documentaries and now as an adult I find myself still watching thanks for the many years of quality content :) thank you Frontline and PBS my favorite ❤

We need to start holding politicians criminally liable for doing stuff like this

These people deserve better! These are people who saved, educated, and rescued other people, who, in fact, dedicated their time and hard-effort in that honorable pursuit - and this is what they get. Shameful! Just shameful!

This just makes me sad. Also, this is indicative of so many of the problems in this country

Politicians get their pensions "NO MATTER WHAT". That needs to change, start in Washington DC, and then work your way down to the lowest paid elected official

The financial system has been artificially pumped for over a decade to ensure big pockets were lined; and now those same hands will make a fortune in the largest transfer of wealth in human history by shorting it on the way down. Inflation does have a roll, but that's to keep everyone panicked, and focused on their bills and expenses, rather than focus on the capital crimes of politicians and corporations, I'm still at a crossroads deciding if to liquidate my $338k stock portfolio, what’s the best way to take advantage of this bear market??

These truly solid documentaries beg the question, at least from the American perspective that I see them through, how much longer until we do something about all of this? Personally, I find this question to be incredibly easy and hard to answer at the same time. Easy because we're (almost) all being backed into a metaphorical corner and my soul has a clear understanding of the evil from which this stems from. And hard because I'm well-fed, married, have fulfilling relationships with family and friends, enjoy various hobbies, am safely tucked away in a small town where people politely ask how you're doing, and so on. Maybe I'm being dramatic here, but the notion that, regardless of one's day-to-day, we're watching our empire fall feels pretty tangible, at least to me. And much like ashes leftover from a destructive fire rejuvenating the forest around it, perhaps some form of destruction is necessary to rejuvenate this country. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading this blog post of an evidently disillusioned mid-20s office worker trying to make sense of all this. Take care, and God Bless.

This documentary should get an award.

I have an IRA and a 401K. I also have stocks that I bought outside of my retirement vehicles. The stocks that I bought outside of my retirement accounts have saved my retirement. I had several issues with poor management with both my IRA and My 401K over the past 40 years. Manage your own retirement! Don't trust anyone but yourself with your money.

"I trusted the state with my money" Nothing about that sentence sounds like a good idea.

No better way to prepare for retirement than buying, holding and buying more dividend stocks. You will thank yourself you did!