Re:Lyft lays off 17% of workforce, furloughs hundreds more
by akiselev on Wednesday April 29, 2020 @04:12PM
(#23023630)
Because language is imprecise and depends on context - you and the GP are talking past each other. They are using the word in a conversational context and you are using it in an academic/technical sense.
"A pension is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments. A pension may be a "defined benefit plan", where a fixed sum is paid regularly to a person, or a "defined contribution plan", under which a fixed sum is invested that then becomes available at retirement age.
The common use of the term pension is to describe the payments a person receives upon retirement, usually under pre-determined legal or contractual terms. A recipient of a retirement pension is known as a pensioner or retiree."
A 401k is a savings account, not a contractual obligation, so that's why it's not a pension in common usage.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pension:
"A pension is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments. A pension may be a "defined benefit plan", where a fixed sum is paid regularly to a person, or a "defined contribution plan", under which a fixed sum is invested that then becomes available at retirement age.
The common use of the term pension is to describe the payments a person receives upon retirement, usually under pre-determined legal or contractual terms. A recipient of a retirement pension is known as a pensioner or retiree."
A 401k is a savings account, not a contractual obligation, so that's why it's not a pension in common usage.