Sunday, July 23, 2006


Pension Haiku




Haiku, a type of Japanese poetry, consists of three sentences, each one containing five, seven and five syllables, respectively. The goal is to convey a message in simple terms. Here are a few tries.

Pensions are crucial
People are not saving much
Will we always work?

Governance is key
Bad decisions cost money
Who will take the blame?

The point is this. Clear and simple communication is a precursor to change. Solving the retirement benefits problem is far from easy and a cacophony of dissident opinions, without some unifying end goal, spells disaster.

Wouldn't it be nice to simplify, clarify and streamline? Answering questions such as those shown below is a good start towards implementing meaningful reform.

1. What is the problem that needs to be solved?
2. Who currently bears the cost(s) of not having a solution in place?
3. What are the alternative solutions?
4. How do they compare/contrast in terms of costs and benefits?
5. Who should make the decisions about what benefits to offer?
6. How much responsibility should employees enjoy with respect to pensions?
7. Who currently "owns" the pension "problem"?
8. Who can effect change?
9. Who should be able to effect change?
10. What lessons can be learned from past mistakes with respect to pension funding?

We'd love to publish your poems, musings or anecdotes. Write to pension@bvallc.com
posted by Susan Mangiero at 7/23/2006 04:13:00 PM