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| FYI interesting reading on state accounting, state pensions etc. |
Here is a link that might be useful: MSNBC article
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Thanks Mary. This was timely. We just received our RE tax bill and I noticed hefty increases for each department's pension fund. (20% increases!) Could be some cities are honest -- or that employees have demanded better funding at the local level. I was especially taken by Buffett's comments on the foolishness of assuming any investment will pay 7.5% to 8.5% per year when the Dow average over the whole 20th Century was 5.3%. |
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| And this doesn't touch on the issue of unfunded retirement health benefits, which is in even worse shape in most counties. OTOH, CalPERS, the pension fund of CA state employees (county and city participation is voluntary, BTW, so not all state employees belong to it), is well run and even better invested. Their reward for this? Twice in the last 15 years, the State Legislature has raided the PERS funds to balance their state budgets, taking out the "excess profits"! |
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- Posted by busymom2006 (My Page) on Sun, May 11, 08 at 20:10
| In the private sector, I think employees have almost come to expect that things like this may happen to their traditional pensions. Some are even worried that social security won't be around for them when they retire. We all need to do a better job saving for ourselves. But I'm shocked that the benefits of our public servants may now be in jeopardy. What a recipe for disaster. Did Mr. Buffet suggest a solution to any of this? Whatever we need to do, we need to start doing it soon. |
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- Posted by richardallen (My Page) on Thu, May 15, 08 at 22:20
| Yes you all need to start smoking again so we can cut 5-10 years off your payments......Seriously we underestimated how many people stopped smoking and will collect pensions for 5-10+ years longer then the actuaries told them to put in... hence bankruptcy or lowered benefits say you get 85-90%. Just the unintended consequences of all the anti smoking campaigns ------------------------- Did Mr. Buffet suggest a solution to any of this? Whatever we need to do, we need to start doing it soon. |
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| Not a big surprise, really. In my state, many years ago, a governor dipped into the state pension funds. State employees pensions here, have been in jeopardy for many years--they're just hanging on by a thread. I have several friends and family who are state workers and their concern about their retirement goes back long before our current economic woes. |
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| The Fed is always trying to borrow against and get into Fed Govt TSP money. Not even sure if its happened or not:( So many things to try to stay on top of. Not that I'd be able to change the decision anyway I suppose. |
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- Posted by bethesdamadman (My Page) on Sat, May 24, 08 at 9:13
| Mary, it has happened, but the Fed (as in Federal Reserve) has nothing to do with that; it is the President and the Treasury Dept. that authorizes that to happen. If you're interested, I'll explain the hows and whys, but suffice it to say, that no federal employee has ever lost a cent when that happens. The money is replaced with interest by Treasury. |
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