Are you a GovGuam worker on the “new” defined contribution retirement plan? If you are then the chances are you will have to work until the day you die. Retirement and the stock market are a mystery to most of us but one thing is for certain, if you look at how much money you have in your retirement account it won’t go very far. A short sited legislature took away the fair, secure “old” defined benefit retirement plan promising that everyone would be millionaires in the stock market but the only people that are getting rich are the ones taking a commission on every contribution GovGuam workers make. This has far reaching consequences not just for Public Employees but for our entire island.

NO DISABILITY RETIREMENT
A firefighter rescues a child from a burning building but a falling board crushes his knee preventing him to continue being a fire fighter. A police officer is shot by a crippling bullet. A teacher has a massive stroke. They can get a medical retirement, right? WRONG!!! If a Public Employee is disabled and can no longer work they get a onetime payout of less than a year’s wages. Even private sector workers can get a Social Security but not Public Employees. If you get disabled, then your family will more than likely have to support you for the rest of your life.

WE LOSE OUR FINEST AND BRIGHTEST
After seven years on the new plan, employees are vested and can move to any job they want and take their retirement with them. With incredibly low pay, horrible health insurance and what is quite possibly the worst retirement plan in the Nation, it’s no wonder that once we have invested a lot of public money in on-the-job training, not to mention scholarships, public employees move on just when they are getting great at their jobs.

PENNYWISE AND POUND FOOLISH
In the short run it looks like we are saving money by shorting Public workers of a decent retirement plan but it is really costing us. With GovGuam’s inability to hire and retain professionals we end up having to contract out work at a much greater expense when these jobs used to be done by public employees. For example, Guam’s $20 Million “MASTER TRANSPORTATION PLAN” was bid out to an off island company. For $20 Million we could have hired 8 Engineers at $100,000 per year for an entire 25 year career which could produce hundreds of reports, overseen hundreds of construction projects (which we now contract out) and made their priority what was good for Guam as opposed to how much profit they could make for their company.

WANT TO HELP FIX IT?
GFT is establishing a Secure Retirement committee to fix our broken system and we need a few smart people that are willing to give up a couple hours of their time to help build a better future for themselves and their island. If you’re interested then just hit reply and say “I want to help secure my future!!!”
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON A SECURE RETIREMENT CLICK HERE