ClydeR
02-23-2017, 03:07 PM
From a column by George Will..
Nowadays, America’s most persistent public dishonesties are the wildly optimistic but politically convenient expectations for returns on pension fund investments. Last year, when Illinois reduced its expected return on its teachers’ retirement fund from 7.5 percent to 7 percent, this meant a $400 million to $500 million addition to the taxes needed annually for the fund. And expecting 7 percent is probably imprudent. Add to the Illinois example the problems of the 49 other states that have pension debt (http://us.pensiontracker.org/ListPrint.php?selYear=2015&varName=field21&agenty_type=&showOnly=1) of at least $19,000 per household and numerous municipalities, and you will understand why many jurisdictions will be considering buyouts, whereby government workers are offered a lump sum in exchange for smaller pension benefits.
More... (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/americas-utterly-predictable-tsunami-of-pension-problems/2017/02/22/1e5de00e-f869-11e6-9845-576c69081518_story.html)
Click the "have pension debt" link in the quote to see how your state ranks.
Nowadays, America’s most persistent public dishonesties are the wildly optimistic but politically convenient expectations for returns on pension fund investments. Last year, when Illinois reduced its expected return on its teachers’ retirement fund from 7.5 percent to 7 percent, this meant a $400 million to $500 million addition to the taxes needed annually for the fund. And expecting 7 percent is probably imprudent. Add to the Illinois example the problems of the 49 other states that have pension debt (http://us.pensiontracker.org/ListPrint.php?selYear=2015&varName=field21&agenty_type=&showOnly=1) of at least $19,000 per household and numerous municipalities, and you will understand why many jurisdictions will be considering buyouts, whereby government workers are offered a lump sum in exchange for smaller pension benefits.
More... (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/americas-utterly-predictable-tsunami-of-pension-problems/2017/02/22/1e5de00e-f869-11e6-9845-576c69081518_story.html)
Click the "have pension debt" link in the quote to see how your state ranks.