During the LLNL All Hands meeting, the Director briefly discussed employee contributions to TCP-1. He commented that he was encountering the argument "LANL and Sandia both did it (raised employee contributions to 7%, I think), why can't you?"
Can some of you LANL and Sandia folks please comment on what your contribution rate is to your defined-benefit plans?
Comments
Yeah, and SNL got rid of their pension for employees who joined after 2008. Is that also the case for LLNL and LANL?
Thus, I my projects get a huge overhead tax to pay for all of the old fart's pension plans.
The post-tax aspect makes it more like a 10% cut in pay. Very painful when raises, if they are given out at all in the "good" years, are now usually limited to about a 1% annual increase.
I should also warn you that the 7% hair-cut in salaries to help pay for TCP-1 is probably not the end of it. With fixed income assets and bonds having yields so low, that 7% will likely have to be raised even further in the future.
The TCP1 Defined Benefit Pension Plan includes employee contributions.
6% on the first $113,700 of pension eligible pay
8% on pension eligible pay between $113,700 and $255,000
No contributions on pay above $255,000
An offset of $8.77 is deducted from the contribution amount on a biweekly basis
Note: $8.77 is an adjustment factor that applies to the initial employee contribution implemented in 2010, and was designed to equitably distribute contributions across salary ranges.
LANL Emp.
Thanks LANL Emp.
Interesting to see how these things are being done at LLNL vs LANL.
Now, about this "after tax" business....does anybody have any insight on why the TCP-1 contribution does not reduce the taxable income, like 401(k) contributions? Are pension payments also taxed? Seems like a double hit if they are.
The % of your pension you contribute is not taxed when paid out to you later. You will get a taxable and non-taxable portion of your pension payments.
Next Logical Question:
If employer pension contributions are a corporate tax write off....
...why aren't personal pension contributions a personal tax write off???
May 10, 2013 at 10:48 PM
You just don't get diversity at all levels, do you?
May 11, 2013 at 8:30 AM
"Executive leadership" by MBAs employed by a for-profit corporation vs scientific leadership by PhDs employed by a major university system is what has doomed the NNSA science labs.
The Sandians you listed have 30+ years of experience in lab programs. You don't need 3 letters behind your name to be a critical thinker.
May 11, 2013 at 3:14 PM
No, he got suckered by his pre-existing biases for "green" technologies, bolstered by the Obama plants in the DOE pushing them beyond his ability to see the scams. He's a decent scientist, a lousy administrator, and a very bad judge of character and motive among his underlings.
Maybe the Spanish flu.
Hey. Go easy here. Remember what I taught you. You'll make me cry.
Pass the cialis, I'm going back to the beach.
Class of "09.
"You can see why Parney would be having a hard time resisting an increase from 5% to 7% at LLNL."
Parney is a jackass if he buys this.
LANL's pension is 80% funded and needs contributions and LLNL's is 150% funded and needs another contribution like Paris Hilton needs a penis.
This is indeed a problem that can't be ignored. If you look at the number of R&D100 awards in the last couple of years, both LLNL and LANL have taken the lion's share of these awards compared to Sandia's nearly nonexistent R&D100 awards.
May 12, 2013 at 10:40 PM
Rare? Take a look at the Los Alamos nuclear weapon chain.
Bret Knapp, PAD, Nuclear Weapons, M.S. UC Davis, no PhD
John Benner, AD Nuclear Weapons, M.S. UC Davis, no PhD
James Owen, W Division Leader, M.S. New Mexico State, no PhD
LANL nuclear weapon program, no PhD required.
Charlie McMillan, absolutely no experience in operations and risk management surrounding SNM handling, for a lab that has ALOT of SNM related operations.
You can go down the line to find numerous examples (LANL and LLNL) where they promote modellers to lead experimental groups. We can go through the list if you want this thread to be filled with painfully damning and brusing posts.
Appointments are based on cronyism, not based on selecting the best and most qualified candidates.
Mike Campbell
John Nuckolls
It is very helpful, but it is not a requirement. Demonstrated competence and leadership is the real measure.
May 13, 2013 at 4:44 PM
Sorry but "patience" isn't the requirement. What is required is the ability to persevere towards a goal, surmounting obstacles and maintaining quality and clear vision. Those requirements are very much the hallmarks of a great leader. Impatience and unwillingness to stick to a hard task until it is completed are not.
Steve Renfro deputy AD Nuclear Weapons, BS and MBA UNM , no PhD
Yes, the once famous NNSA labs have become pretty much a scam operation.
May 16, 2013 at 11:27 AM
Actually, UC is the managing partner in both LLNS and LANS.
It's not the "no PhD" that strikes me as disappointing, but rather the UNM for the MBA.
http://llnlthetruestory.blogspot.com/2013/07/sandias-fee-penalties.html?showComment=1378966217910#c7620251885107437128