Show Me the Money, Part I: I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Pension!

From this month’s issue of NEA Today:

Teachers should be paid about $100,000 annually, but give up their pensions, according to a report by the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. With global competitiveness in mind, the panel called for radical changes in public schools. (Like this: More kids should leave school after 10th-grade and go to trade schools or colleges, and more school districts should be run by private companies.)

The report “has shed light on some very real issues,” said NEA President Reg Weaver. “However, we urge caution in calling for drastic changes that could potentially disenfranchise poorer communities and eliminate community voices in the reform conversation.” Also, he said, while teachers should be paid more, they also deserve safe retirement plans.

If you’re bringing home $100k a year it should be no problem to fully fund a Roth IRA at $4,000 a year, along with some more in a good 403(b), and you shouldn’t be accruing any stupid debts, either. That said, sure money is always better—just ask anyone who was thinking of retiring in 2002 but had their nest egg in tech stocks.