Pension Choices: Union Members Come First

One of the biggest achievements of the union movement was to obtain pensions for its members. These days, most private-sector workers have 401(k) style retirement plans, which is both good and bad. The upside is that they don't have to worry about their benefits being hit if their company goes bankrupt, but the downside is that their retirement income depends on how well their portfolio does.

These days most people's retirement funds are invested in a broad stock portfolio, which means that their wealth goes up and down with the stock market. However, a number of activists have begun putting pressure on the investment firms that manage these portfolios to take into account a variety of concerns that are unrelated to building wealth when they make their investment decisions.