[Dennis Kalma]

Some of the problem came up when returns from investment (interest rates) were in the 'teens, the actuaries then calculated what they needed to put in to make things work with those kind of returns, and then the returns fell. Also, many companies (like the one I was at - Shell) had their pension predicated on full lifetime of service, at leat until age 60 in the company. They then got stupid and axed a bunch of staff, took the savings in pension fund contributions as profits and essentially were left over with a relatively low level of funding. Now Shell was pretty good, the money for the most part is actually there, but many companies did not go back and top up the funds, which now leaves them in the wreckage they now live with.

I agree, defined contribution is the only way to go, but then one has the problem of "what is enough" and what do you use for an average return? I use 7% return and $1.1m as the target for retirement at age 55....

Any other thoughts?

Dennis