Talk:Tontine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I goofed with the attributions and the editing summary, but it was me that made the most recent change to this page. In the M*A*S*H episode referenced, Col. Potter's inheritance was a case of rare brandy, not a bottle of wine.
Minor nitpick, I know. - Ransom 03:24, Sep 25, 2004 (UTC)
Contents |
[edit] Changes
I felt that "odd combination" was a pointless value judgement and removed it. The scheme did not seem odd to Tonti, nor for a few centuries thereafter. It seems odd now only because it is disused, and therefore quaint. In fact, I speculate that the scheme could have a resurgence: A group of new retirees pool a substantial portion of their resources. The early dividends aren't enough to live on, but they have other resources and part-time jobs. As the group grows older, members die, and the increased dividends make up for dwindling resources and increased medical costs. (Obviously, this speculation is inappropriate for inclusion in the article unless someone finds it in a journal somewhere.)
For the minor dispute over invention, I rely on [1], but I have seen the point elsewhere as well. Few claims of invention in that era are undisputed anyway.
Some businesses are owned by JTWROS and restrictions on sale, and this can result in the same moral hazard as a tontine. If anyone feels need of a specific reference, see newspaper coverage of the murder of one of the owners of the General Wayne Inn in Montomery County PA in 2002. I am sure other examples abound.
The proper place for reference to the movie, The Wrong Box, is in the article on the subject, so I removed the details, which I found distracting. Interested readers can click.
I also did some general copyediting, which I think improves clarity.
208.20.251.27 17:02, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Social Security?
Is Social Security a tontine? --Damian Yerrick (☎) 16:21, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
The way I look at it, social security is basically the opposite of a tontine; in a tontine the contributions are made by and benefits are paid to a discrete and identifiable group of participants, while in social security the contributors and recipients are totally different groups of people. Also, the pool of recipients grows smaller in a tontine, thus concentrating the wealth among the survivors, while in social security the pool of recipients grows larger, thus diluting the wealth. -- Lazyanon 63.66.112.5 20:00, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Ten Little Indians and the Tontine
I added The Wild Wild West entry as I had just watched TNOT Tottering Tontine the night before, and searched for the unfamiliar term. I added the detail about the episode becuase it touches so many other related plot device. Ten Little Indians is often the device used to display the collapse of a tontine, even if the object is not money.
WWW.RayBailey.net 24.51.30.131 22:42, 27 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Dwight Eisenhower
Many years ago I read that when Dwight Eisenhower was a cadet at the United States Military Academy, he and a couple of friends raised the considerable amount of five thousand dollars, to go the last among them who remained unmarried. All three were married within a year of graduation. I have no idea whether this is verifiable. J S Ayer 17:08, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
