Barry Ritholtz, Columnist

Teachers Deserve Better From Retirement-Plan System

How U.S. pension laws cheat employees of nonprofit organizations.

March 15, 2019 at 12:00 PM UTC

Barry Ritholtz is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is chairman and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management, and was previously chief market strategist at Maxim Group. He is the author of “Bailout Nation.”

Second-class citizenship?
Photographer: Michael Mathes/AFP/Getty Images

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How is it possible that two variations of tax-deferred retirement accounts, born of similar ideals and motivations, have evolved into shockingly different animals?

I refer to 401(k) and 403(b) investment accounts. Despite being part of similar tax codes with nearly identical goals, in practice the portfolios of each bear little resemblance to each other. As a result, millions of American teachers, among others, are retiring with less in savings than they deserve.