By Merrill Matthews
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Three Texas counties have a model for reform that proves personal retirement accounts are more than just a conservative pipe dream. Stock market volatility remains one of the primary objections to switching from the current pay-as-you-go method of funding Social Security benefits to a system of prefunded personal retirement accounts. However three Texas counties that opted out of Social Security 30 years ago have solved the risk problem.
Galveston County opted out of Social Security in 1981 and Matagorda and Brazoria counties followed suit in 1982. County employees have since seen their retirement savings grow every year including during the recent recession. Today county workers retire with more money and have better supplemental benefits in case of disability or early death. Moreover the counties face no long-term unfunded pension liabilities.
If state and local governments -- and Congress -- are really looking for a path to long-term sustainable entitlement reform they might consider what is known as the Alternate Plan.
A Different Model
The Alternate Plan does not follow either of the traditional defined-benefit or defined-contribution models. Rather employee and employer retirement contributions are pooled and actively managed by a financial planner -- in this case First Financial Benefits Inc. of Houston which originated the plan and has managed it since inception.
Like Social Security employees contribute 6.2 percent of their incomes which the counties match. (Galveston has chosen to provide a slightly larger share.) Once the county makes its contribution its financial obligation is finished. As a result there are no long-term unfunded liabilities.
Guaranteed Interest
Unlike a traditional IRA or 401(k) plan which account holders can actively manage the contributions are pooled like deposits to a bank savings account and top-rated financial institutions bid on the money.
Those institutions guarantee a base interest rate -- usually about 3.75 percent -- which can increase if the market does well. Over the last decade the accounts have earned between 3.75 percent and 5.75 percent every year with an average of around 5 percent. The 1990s often saw even higher interest rates 6.5 percent to 7 percent. Thus when the market goes up employees make more; but when the market goes down employees still make something. This virtually eliminates the risk that a major drop in the market will cause workers to delay retirement.
Death and Disability
Social Security is not just a retirement fund but a social insurance program that provides death disability and survivors benefits. When financial planner Rick Gornto devised the Alternate Plan for Galveston County he wanted it to be a complete substitute for Social Security. Thus part of the employer contribution provides each worker a term life insurance policy which pays four times the employees salary tax free up to a maximum of $215000. Thats nearly 850 times Social Securitys death benefit of $255.
If a worker participating in Social Security dies before retirement he loses his contributions (though part of that money might go to surviving minor children or a spouse who never worked). A worker in the Alternate Plan owns his account so the entire account belongs to his estate. There is also a disability benefit that pays immediately upon injury. Social Securitys comparable benefit comes with a six-month wait and includes other restrictions.
More Retirement Income
Alternate Plan retirees do much better than those who retire under Social Security. According to First Financials calculations based on 40 years of contributions (see the figure):
- A lower-middle income worker making about $26000 at retirement would get about $1007 a month under Social Security but $1826 under the Alternate Plan.
- A middle-income worker making $51200 would get about $1540 monthly from Social Security but $3600 from the Alternate Plan.
- And a high-income worker who maxed out on his Social Security contribution every year would receive about $2500 a month from Social Security compared to $5000 to $6000 a month from the Alternate Plan.
It is evident that higher-income workers fare better relative to lower-income workers. The reason is that Social Securitys payout formula drops benefits for higher-income workers so that benefits for lower-income workers can be raised. The Alternate Plan makes no such transfer payments. Even so lower-income workers still do significantly better than they do under Social Securitys social insurance model.
