wheelsup, I thought you were a NK CA. Are an AA 320 FO? The financial picture is going to be different for a Bus CA versus Bus FO.
This is the milennial part of me, but I don't get the concept of a pension. You mean to tell me that you could be guaranteed ~$140k per year for the rest of your life after Age 60 when you contribute
zero to the company at that point from 60 until death? One can say "but I served 30 yrs in their service" and true, but you got paid for services rendered. Ultimately the only legitimate argument is "the airline agreed to the pension and it's an obligation, so pay me." And I get that. But I don't see how it works long term, when you have massive retirements and people living longer on average. It's almost like social security. They're using my money today as a working man to go pay for a retiree benefit and it's coming to a point where there just isn't enough to pay out in that pot of social security. So as a crux, they have increased the cap from 118,500 to 127,200 in earnings that are now fully taxed with social security. So 2017 I pay 6.2% on 8,700 extra, meaning $540 towards SS extra this year versus last year. This may be an unpopular view, but 9/11 simply accelerated to a death of airline pilot pension for something that was going to happen anyway. Like SS, the system is broke for long term, there won't be enough coming in to justify the payments going out. And unlike SS owned by the government, pensions were held by airlines, which are private corporations that rely on making profits to pay the bills. Profits go poof, what happens to pensions and pay/benefits for working employees? How does one expect a private corporation to pay for something when it isn't bringing in enough money?
Corporate America is to blame. And they changed retirement plans forever. No more pensions (for the most part) for the average working John Doe.
Since graduating in 2006 I went to an engineering firm that offered straight up a 401k with matching, and that is also what I've had at both the airlines I've worked for. Now don't get me wrong, I think every single airline pilot with a pension got totally hosed after 9/11 when the airlines killed pension plans and threw them on the PBGC. So for those people who thought they had a guarantee and then it went poof, I can understand they are trying to play catchup for retirement. Age 65 benefit them allowing the post 9/11 crowd to work longer than what otherwise would have been possible under Age 60. Still, it's not enough for many because they have a lot to catch up on.
But I don't trust a company. No way. It's no love loss, they pay me for services rendered, and I work for them for money. Sure you can enjoy your job and brand (and I do), but at the end of the day it's a business transaction. And I firmly believe the day I stop working for a company, is the day I get $0 in checks from them.
There was a time not too long ago that luxury cars were reserved for those in their middle ages or in retirement. My aunt was a VP at a huge bank headquartered in Charlotte but drove a 20 year old car. Just last year after retiring she bought a BMW.
Nowadays it's all about leasing and buying expensive things because 'YOLO'. This has been great for the economy but horrible for young people's finances.
You really should look up hedonic adaptation.
Maybe I am just jaded because I saw the effects of two large recessions and their impacts on my life and others around me. Some have avoided both by being in good places and won't have the same outlook on life. Others have spouses with secure employment. Even more have parents that support them even into middle age (wife as a friend who even at 30 has her house and car paid for).
As for spending $200k raising a kid, those figures are a joke and assuming paying for college outright and all sorts of outrageous expenses most normal people wouldn't do.
It's still a responsibility thing for young people's finances. I wouldn't expect someone in $200+k school/flight debt to to go lease a new Infiniti. I don't have debt. So I pay the bills, save, and invest. My son is 4.5 yrs old and I've put in $20k into his 529 account so far. Today the account value shows 23.9k and who knows how that will go. At this stage, is that too much? Too little? I honestly don't know. But I stock away $250/month into his 529 account. As for retirement, I've heard a general rule of thumb that by age 35 you should have twice your annual salary saved in retirement and I'm on par to exceed that. Every bill I get is paid in full on time, I have a full 12 month emergency fund, and barring a major personal disaster (death, severe disability, cancer, etc), I see only a positive cash flow. Of course all this assumes continued employment. But again, that's where the backup fund and savings come in.
So at what point do I sit down and say, darn I just spent 17.6k on a lease for 3.25 years, whereas I could have saved and invested it in [insert funds] and based on time value return on money.......? If I'm already doing that, with 529s, with savings, with retirement, then why not YOLO and splurge? I don't think it's fair to just say hey you totally screwed your own finances because you took a certain splurge action to enjoy life, so as long as the other metrics are on par. That's my point.
