Why employee pensions aren't bankrupting states (McClatchy front page)

[underpants]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/03/06/109649/why-employee-pensions-arent-bankrupting.html


A close look at state and local pension plans across the nation, and a comparison of them to those in the private sector, reveals a more complicated story. However, the short answer is that there's simply no evidence that state pensions are the current burden to public finances that their critics claim.

Pension contributions from state and local employers aren't blowing up budgets. They amount to just 2.9 percent of state spending, on average, according to the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College puts the figure a bit higher at 3.8 percent.

Though there's no direct comparison, state and local pension contributions approximate the burden shouldered by private companies. The nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute estimates that retirement funding for private employers amounts to about 3.5 percent of employee



Nor are state and local government pension funds broke. They're underfunded, in large measure because — like the investments held in 401(k) plans by American private-sector employees — they sunk along with the entire stock market during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. And like 401(k) plans, the investments made by public-sector pension plans are increasingly on firmer footing as the rising tide on Wall Street lifts all boats.

[Wilms]

1. In other words, Republicans are liars. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Greedy liars.

[Aerows]

2. Defense spending

is what is bankrupting our nation. Too much greed, too much graft and funding corrupt governments.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

5. And interest on the debt that funded them. nt

[theaocp]

3. Anyone looking for REAL news reporting

Come to McClatchy and ditch fake bullshit like Huffpo. It's worth your time.

[underpants]

6. I check it every morning

and yes I still check the NYT because, like it or not, outside of something huge happening during the day whatever is above the fold in NYT will be THE story of the day.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. My local paper is McClatchy

It has its hits and misses but it's far better than most local papers.

[Courtesy Flush]

4. If states had a matching fund saving plan, it'd cost a lot more. nt

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. The article is nonsense. The vast majority of the current plans are actuarially unsound

The CalPERS projection of future growth which will pull them out of the hole they are in makes L. Ron Hubbard seem sane. This article it not that much better. The losses in some plans make them nonviable and that has to be fixed.

An independent and honest assessment needs to be made of most if not all retirement plans (public and private) and then informed decisions can be made. The rising tide will not float all of the boats.

[guruoo]

10. k&r nt

[Cowpunk]

11. Huffington Post just made this their headline

The big lie is being exposed.

The class warriors are doing the same thing with pensions that they do with Social Security in the private sector-lumping them in with the ever-worsening problem of health care costs. The profit-based healthcare industry is the thing that's really bankrupting our country.