If You were an AIG Exec would you RETURN the bonus money?

I heard somewhere that these bonuses were part of the contracts in lieu of salary so, yes, I would imagine that I would feel that I earned the bonus and would be opposed to returning it. The issue of the bonuses should have been addressed *before* AIG received any money from the government. Then those employees wouldn't have been placed in this situation to begin with.

In all honesty, no. I would take that money, retire, golden parachute and all, and my wife and I could move somewhere cozy, close to family, start up our own businesses, and forget that I ever worked for such a crappy place. Seriously though, I can't really fathom being in their shoes because at my current pay it would take me roughly 20 years to earn $1 million dollars. The concept of getting a "bonus" of that much for doing a crappy job is comparable to winning the lottery so I would treat it as such.

I would challenge Pelosi, Reid, Dodd and Obama to answer one question... If it the bonuses were so outrageous, why did each of them sign the bill into law, knowing the clause allowing for the bonuses was there? It is nothing short of criminal what they are allowed to get away with in this whole lie.

God as my witness, YES I would give it back. And do it gladly. I find it disgusting that people make more money than they can spend while the people that clean their offices and make their coffee and work behind the scenes barely scrape by. What would an office do without a cleaning person? Oh goodness...they might have to take out their own trash! Gasp! I recently read a newspaper article talking about a man in charge of a hospital. I think it was in England. He was being forced to lay off all kinds of people...floor crew, cleaning people, laundry...and it broke his heart. He gave a speech to the entire staff of the hospital and everyone gave up some to keep these people working. It was such a show of humanity it brought tears to my eyes. One floor of nurses unanimously agreed to give up a raise. Another hourly paid employee agreed to give up one day of work a week to save that much per week. The thing is, people worked together and saved hundreds of jobs. Why do we have any right to be so greedy?

nice topic

Well majority of the people that are saying they would return it are lying. Like now, your bashing AIG for giving out bonuses..Why? Because this affects you. We look out for ourselves and our familys. So I can promise you most of the people here would keep the money.

I would, in all honesty. I mean, of course, there's so many angles of the story about this, whether it's okay or not to return it based on the contract and based on the law. But regardless of all that, personally, I would. I mean, why would I be worried of my bonus when others are in hard times because of the recession. If I were an executive, I would assume, I still have quite enough money to go on with my life normally. There's so many out there losing their job and a little sacrifice for the betterment would really go a long way.

Obama, Pelosi, and the rest should take responsibility for what they signed allowing this to happen. Any company, no matter what kind, that received money from a bailout should be barroed from paying any bonuses no matter how big or how small. Bonuses should be NIL, ZILCH, NON-EXISTANT for at least 5 years or until these companies pay back to the US Treasury what they received in bail-out money.

Actually I would NOT return the money. If they were obligated by a contract to give me that money, then that money is mine...they would just be out of luck...I would go somewhere and retire. LOL

I wouldn't give it back. It was in the contract and congress even approved it. Now that congress, especially Dodd and Geitner are looking like idiots they want the money back despite approving it and the bonuses. I would keep it. Maybe congress should start giving part of their pay back for doing such a poor job.

Haha my fiance and I got into this discussion earlier! If someone handed me 1 million plus dollars or more and said here you go its your bonus, and then they wanted to ask for it back I would laugh. Even if these people were to keep it and have that money taxed they would still be profiting. What person in today's day & age with the way money & the economy is would hand it back over? Not many... So No, I personally wouldn't hand the money back over if it was given to me just because I know I personally could use it.

Wow...this is a difficult question. I work for a company that gives bonuses when profits allow - but, it is a small manufacturing company and the amount of the bonus we're talking about is significantly smaller than what I have heard is being dished out for AIG executives. That being said...contractually they have a right to it - morally...they have a duty to return it. The error here is not on the employees...it is on the government who failed to place stipulations on the money that was given. In our organization...bonuses are based on merit...here we have a company that is failing, yet bonuses are still to be paid out? I'm not sure why their bonus program does not in itself have restrictions based on not only employee performance but organizational profits as well. So, back to the question at hand...if I was an executive who already was in the upper bracket as far as compensation was concerned...and my organization was failing...I would expect my company to act as I would, responsibly and ethically, and give it back or at least take a lesser amount - contract or not.

because of the contract, it would be legally mine. but if it were me, i would definitely give it back to the economy. i mean come everyone knows what this country is going through. they can give back at least a litte bit.

AIG would maybe wrong to dole out the bonus money, but as an employee I would keep it as part of the fruit of my labor. Of course, whether I would choose to remain as an employee in such a scenario is another issue

If I got the bonus money through a legal and binding contract (and they did), no I wouldn't return it.

I think we can also factor in Corporate Social Repsonsibility. Being a financial/insurance institution being subsidized by the government, using taxpayers' money, they should be able to crunch internal finances first. Bonuses is within their area of responsibility. The government is subsidizing AIG because it has members that will be affected if they closed. Again, subsidy is for the members through AIG, and never bonuses for executives. Will I return the money is another issue. If I still have it, I will. But if it already went to some reasonable expenditure, then, I will not be able to. Good day!

lol, NO! Of course not, not voluntarily. I don't think I would have raised a stink, if they wouldn't have given them out, but once the money is in my pocket, why part with it? Who knows if I still have a job tomorrow, I might need that money;) No, I can fully understand, why they would want to keep it. Not that I like it, but I would do the same. These contracts were poorly negotiated and a non-performance based automatic bonus is mine, no matter if I personally messed up things for them. In this economy, it's pretty much everybody for themselves. These people will fight tooth and nail for the money and I can't blame them. It is legally theirs until a court says otherwise. I blame the government for handing over the money without proper oversight, and not stopping the bonus money from switching hands. Yep, I have no heart, I'm selfish, I'd keep the money.

From what I understand, I may be wrong, these were retention bonuses. Retention money is money given to keep the employee working for the company. These types of bonuses are planned ahead of time. Actually, I received a retention bonus once, when the company I was working for was going through chapter 13, of course I did not receive nearly as much as these people. I think these people got caught up in a bad situation, bonuses promised to them, but in the interim, the company has accepted bail out money. Honestly, if it were me, I would wait awhile, before I made a decision to return the money.

Would I have to give it ALL back? Ah, it doesn't really matter. I wouldn't give any of it back. I would share the wealth though. What would they do with the money if they were to get it back? I can think of much worthier causes (at least in my opinion).

Executives that receive hefty bonuses such as these over the course of even a few years, are by definition rich. They most likely don't need them to make a living, but rather to finance a luxurious lifestyle. To give this money back in the face of public outrage should be a very easy decision for them. It's important to remember, that even if they have to give the bonuses back, and maybe have no salary, they are being compensated through commissions. They also may get a golden parachute clause in their contract. These alternate forms of compensation must be seriously considered by Congress and the Treasury, if they're interested in getting the whole picture.