Match Baseball's Retirement Plan, Fixing the problem is that simple!

The NFL retired players want the NFL to match baseball's (MLB's)
retirement plan as was intended from the 1960's forward. The NFL retirement
plan covers only 21% more people/players NFL 9,560 covered vs. MLB's 7,540,
while baseball's expenses are much higher, travel expenses for the far
longer season are drastically higher. In addition MLB average salaries are
higher at $2.8 million vs. NFL $1.25 million. MLB average pension benefits
are three times higher at $36,700 average vs. the NFL's $12,165 average
benefit. Baseball's gross income is approximately $4.3 billion (Forbes)
while the NFL's gross is over $6 billion. Baseball's total payroll is 1,200
x $2.8 million = $3 billion NFL's total payroll is 1,800 x $1.25 million=
$2.25 billion therefore MLB's total payroll is 33% higher than the NFL's
payroll. Baseball also supports a minor league system and youth programs.
Baseball continues to prosper on less income and higher expenses. There is
no excuse not to have the NFL
retirement benefits matching Major League Baseball's.

The NBA has just increased their pre 1965 pensions from (correction not
$2,000 and $3,600 press accounts differ so research is still ongoing) $200
per month per year to $360 per month per year.

Research and essay by Bernie Parrish

BACK UP COMPARISON RETIREMENT PLANS MLB VS NFL FROM LATEST FORM 5500 IRS
REPORTS
1) Total Pay out annual benefits MLB $88.9
Mil vs. NFL $43.33 Mil
2) Average annual benefit MLB
$36,700 vs. NFL $12,165
3) Monthly benefits paid (nearly) MLB $7 Mil
vs. NFL $3.6 Mil *****
4) 10 yr player at 62 gets MLB
$175,000 vs. NFL $32,000
5) Percent total salaries of benefits MLB 5.5%
vs. NFL 2.2%
6) Participants included (21% diff.) MLB 7,540
vs. NFL 9,560
7) Active players covered MLB
1,200 vs. NFL 1,800
8) Investment income MLB
$92.1 Mil vs. NFL $54.7 Mil
9) Assets available for benefits MLB $1.4
Bill vs. NFL $1.2 Bill ***
10) Current liabilities
MLB $2.3 Bill vs. NFL $1.04 Bill
11) Ave player salary
MLB $2.8 Mil vs. NFL $1.25 Mil
12) Median salary
MLB $1.1 Mil ** vs. NFL $631,675
13) Exec. Director Pay
MLB $1 Mil vs. NFL $7.74 Mil
14) Plan actuary fee
MLB $538,733 vs. NFL $492,951
15) Two year legal fees (2003+2004) MLB $309,726
vs. NFL $5.6 Mil
16) Number monthly benefits checks MLB 2,419
vs. NFL 2,864 or (3,500 Mellon Bank says)
17) Employer contributions MLB $109.6
Mil vs. NFL $67.9 Mil
18) Both Plans meet the minimum funding requirements of ERISA.
19) Both plans are defined benefit plans despite the misinformation
given out by the NFLPA. Both Plans mark form 5500 page 2 item 8(a)
Characteristics Code, as 1B and 1G exactly the same.
*If the NFL paid out $88.9 Mil as MLB does the average annual
benefit would be $25,400 instead of the sub-poverty level benefit of
$12,165.
· **Florida Marlins median salary $1.1 Mil, Yankees median
salary $5.8 Mil.
· ***Upshaw stated in a May 16, 2006 telephone conference call
that the "net assets available for benefits" had grown from the
$841,761,127 in the financial statement to over $1.2 billion now.
· **** MLB's investment income appears to be more than NFL's.
***** NFL's $3.6 million a month excludes disability payments
of approximately $19 million.
· NFL pays their Exec Director 7 times as much and gets back
less than half as much as MLB. Donald Fehr was paid $1,002,064 in 2004
Upshaw was paid $7,740,655 in 2006.
Total payroll MLB is $3 billion while the NFL's is only
$2.25 billion so baseball's total is 33% higher.
MLB pays 10 times more than the NFL for travel and they
support a minor league system the NFL does not.
· Pension plans too numerous to list here (including MLB, GE &
Congress) improve their benefits after beneficiaries start drawing benefits
for cost of living and other adjustments debunking another NFLPA-NFL
pension myth.
· MLB goes back and improves their benefits regularly. The NBA
improves their plan as well as they recently did for pre 1965 players
raising benefits from $200 benefit credits per month per year to $360
benefit credits per month per year, an 80% increase.
· The MLB numbers are now from 2004 and the NFL's from 2005 and
2006 so this comparison is still even worse than it appears here.

NFL Or NBA ... take a guess

This organization has to clean up its act! Here's a report Card on their members activities:


36 have been accused of spousal abuse

7 have been arrested for fraud

19 have been accused of writing bad checks

117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses

3 have done time for assault

71, repeat 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit

14 have been arrested on drug-related charges

8 have been arrested for shoplifting

21 currently are defendants in lawsuits, and

84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year

Can you guess which organization this is?

Give up yet? . . . Scroll down,

Neither, it's the 535 members of the United States Congress, the same group of Idiots that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.



You gotta pass this one on