YOU MEAN THEY HAVE TO LIVE LIKE THEIR EMPLOYERS?

Public employees may face shift to 401(k) plans: Walker’s budget opens door for defined contribution plan (John Schmid, 3/06/11, Journal Sentinel)

The next generation of Wisconsin teachers and other public employees, a sector long blessed with one of the most generous retirement plans in the country, may be facing an entirely different future.

Policy experts say proposed changes to Wisconsin's public-employee pension plan could be the first step toward eventually implementing a 401(k)-style system - shifting the burden of saving for retirement onto workers, and all but eliminating the financial incentive for lifelong loyalty to a single employer.

"It's one of those fiscal inevitabilities," said Todd Berry, president of the Madison-based Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance research group. "The economics, the demographics - everything about it pushes everybody in the same direction."