So many sad tales lately

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

My 72 year old former co worker (now retired) whose money is running out and is hoping not to lose her home. Hoping that BOA will modify her loan so she is not out on the street.


My 55 year old cousin who was a police captain and whose city declared bankruptcy so his pension was cut in half....... They did not fund his pension plan adequately. Don't let your city/state do that. These public servants(police & fire) are not covered by Soc. Security and the PBGC only covers private pension plans.

[MrYikes]

1. Sorry to hear

about losing a home.
I had not heard about the pension problem. Do you have any links or info so that I might learn more?

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

2. Here are a couple of stories

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/business/central-falls-ri-faces-bankruptcy-over-pension-promises.html?pagewanted=all


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/20/business/pension-deal-in-rhode-island-could-set-a-trend.html?pagewanted=all

This is happening in many states

[MrYikes]

3. Hmmm

So to attract quality workers, the government promises to pay retirement, then through the years officials vote to not fund the pension adequately and now there is insufficient money to continue to pay the pensioners. The responsibility falls back on the officials to make up the amount, does it not? I mean personally responsible.

I thought it made the agenda transparent in the second link that they brought out a problem with the disability by denigrating one of the pensioners.

Thank you for the links and this thread. I was unaware.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

4. We have this prolem in CT too due to the Repuke admins we have

Our new Dem governor Dannel Malloy is working on fixing this issue.

THe low rate of return on investments recent;y hasn't helped his istuation either.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

6. These were in a daily newsletter I get at work

http://www.bondbuyer.com/issues/121_77/ravitch-brodsky-status-pension-obligations-1038831-1.html


Richard Ravitch and Richard Brodsky have experience with governmental fiscal trouble. Cities, counties and states continue to struggle with unfunded pension liabilities, prompting the question of whether pension obligations represent debt or values, a debate the pair recently engaged in.

“I don’t think pension benefits are a debt,” said Brodsky, a former New York State Assemblyman from New York City’s Westchester County suburbs. “We have to distinguish between debt and social and legal obligations we have to fill. It’s a complicated world out there. Who are you going to hit and who’s going to suffer?”

Brodsky, and other prominent New York leaders, including Ravitch, a former lieutenant governor, debated pensions, bankruptcy and other facets of municipal distress last week at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law’s Samuel & Ronnie Heyman Center on Corporate Governance.



http://www.clevelandfed.org/Forefront/2012/winter/ff_2012_winter_10.cfm

Apparently public pension benefits are protected in some states:


"In at least 27 states, pension members' past and future accruals are protected, but to different degrees ... [thereby complicating] the task of modifying current members' pension plans. These states treat public pension plans as contracts that must conform to constitutional, statutory, or common law (the last of these was developed through court decisions interpreting statutes or constitutions)." (Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland)

[Little Star]

5. Both those situations are sad....

It's not easy getting old in this day and age.

[murphyj87]

7. My pensions...

My company pension, Canada Pension, and Old Age Security Pension amount to about $40,000 a year. Getting old in Canada isn't bad at all.

[MrYikes]

8. The more we learn about Canada, the better it sounds, but

you talk funny.







That was a joke, BTW

[murphyj87]

9. and we have to add "u"s

to colour, flavour, harbour, honour, humour, labour, neighbour, rumour etc.

Also:

"re"s for "er"s - Litre, Centre, metre, etc

American - Indians, Canadians - First Nations

Americans -Eskimos, Canadians - Inuit

etc.

[MrYikes]

10. Maybe

that's the big difference of the two countries:
Canada puts u in everything, America leaves u out of everything.

[mysuzuki2]

12. a minor point perhaps but all Eskimos are not Inuit.

[Beartracks]

11. What organizations help elderly folks in these situations?

My neighbors are at risk of losing their home, and I don't know how to help.

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