Overdone - who says the liabilities will be with the companies? They are now, for those that have final salary schemes, but they can, and, in due course, will be closed to existing members as well as new employees.
Rentokil have started the process, the rest will follow as and when it is politic and prudent to do so. Undoubtedly there will be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth, but it's the only realistic option.
Result will be that the burden will fall back on each person to fund their own retirement, as it should be. People will work longer and have shorter retirements, they'll just moan about it. C'est la vie, not a problem for the stock market. Especially if you've been longing the housebuilders....
On a related point, as usual the people that have done best out of it are the sodding baby boomers born after WW2, who after a lifetime free healthcare, extensive welfare benefits, inflation to help fund their house purchases etc, will now look to the 30 somethings to pay for their retirement. The 30 somethings are the ones who will have to fund both their own and their parents' retirement, plus trying to buy something habitable as a family home, plus pay for their childrens' upbringing - that's the real economic issue facing the country, when they all say 'sod it' and pack in working and trade for a living - who'll earn the money to pay the taxes then?
