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Thread: A REAL problem - unfunded pension and health liabilities

  1. #11
    Williamsmith
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    Quote Originally Posted by LDAHL View Post
    It will probably take more than $0.17 to get one of those magical visas. I understand Mexico wants evidence you have income of a couple of thousand bucks per month. I would also think a large influx of superfluous Americans might generate a certain amount of resentment in the host countries.
    "Contruye esa pared!!" And they will make the United States pay for it.

  2. #12
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    WS: I am in the same boat as you in regard to SS.
    There is no Utopia. When I was in Thailand the water and air (1998) were very polluted. We were told in a very fancy hotel to brush our teeth with bottled water from India. Poland is a nice, cheap country but they heat with coal so air polluted all winter. Many cheap places are hot, humid, tons of bugs, etc. My personal idea of hell. Many people do not want to leave their family & friends. Nevada's pension is not 100% funded but better than many. We would cut out the traveling, eating out etc if ours were cut.

  3. #13
    Williamsmith
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    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    WS: I am in the same boat as you in regard to SS.
    There is no Utopia. When I was in Thailand the water and air (1998) were very polluted. We were told in a very fancy hotel to brush our teeth with bottled water from India. Poland is a nice, cheap country but they heat with coal so air polluted all winter. Many cheap places are hot, humid, tons of bugs, etc. My personal idea of hell. Many people do not want to leave their family & friends. Nevada's pension is not 100% funded but better than many. We would cut out the traveling, eating out etc if ours were cut.
    Terry, I was thinking more on the lines of a smallish cabin, a wood fired stove, two five gallon buckets providing water from a nearby spring, a few chickens, a few rabbits, some yearly venison, canned vegetables, no television, a shelf of books, a guitar, a camera and a notebook. And something with which to fire a warning shot.

  4. #14
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    WS: I was assuming we would keep some of our pensions) If not we will be joining you. We could also sell our home and buy a small condo to get some more $.

  5. #15
    Williamsmith
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    Terry, I have a friend who has a daughter working as an actuary for a major insurance company. She said that police officers were ranked as one of the most stressful jobs and as such a limiting factor on lifespan due to the fact that cancer, heart disease and mental health issues as well as complications from addictions tend to on average shorten a retirees life by seven to fifteen years.

    My pension was funded fully for seventeen years after my retirement. That means at age 68, I am expected to be dead. Therefore, I am not too worried about the SS payments, I probably won't be around to collect anyway.

  6. #16
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Police, firefighters and prison guards all have shorter life spans from their jobs. That is the reason they can retire younger with less years then other public workers. Also the fact that all these jobs go from 0-100 as far as adrenaline rush is very harmful to the body. I learned about this in grad school since we would be helping people with employment decisions.
    WS: I hope you have a long, healthy life and they lose $.

  7. #17
    Williamsmith
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    Terry, that was kind of you to say. And you as well.

  8. #18
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    oh everyone who has worked the necessary years should be eligible for social security there shouldn't be any exceptions, there are now but that should change. Pensions can still pay out whatever it is they can actually afford to pay out, problem is it won't be 100%, it might be 80% or 40%, or I don't know it depends on the pension, and that's why ... just increase social security is what can be done.
    Trees don't grow on money

  9. #19
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    Wisconsin state and local government employees and public school teachers are in a pension plan called WRS (Wisconsin Retirement System). As of 2013, (and still, I believe) the pensions are 99.96% funded, according to annual reports by an independent firm. South Dakota is another state with a virtually 100% funded public pension plan.

    The employer-employee split in the contributions to WRS was changed dramatically by Act 10, Republican Governor Scott Walker's 2011 collective bargaining reform law. Prior to Act 10, state and local governments contributed in accordance with collective bargaining agreements 99% of the employer-employee contributions to the WRS. As of 2013 employers paid 57% and employees 43%. The change was bitterly resented by employees and their unions, particularly when the pension contribution split had been the product of a series of collective bargaining rounds in which both sides had made concessions to arrive at agreement. The unions involved were not wrong in hoping for some sympathy from "the public in general" over the harm done by Act 10. But I would agree with LDAHL that when the votes were counted in the recall election of Governor Walker, there were more votes for Walker than his challenger.

    Regardless of the changing split in employer-employee contributions, even Governor Walker has pointed with pride to WRS, as "the only 100% funded public pension in America". sic.

    The "promised" benefit to a WRS recipient is in no way dependent on taxpayers (with or without pension coverage) bailing them out. Pension benefits increase in proportion to the 5-year smoothed returns on the investments of the funds under administration. After 2008 there were several years of no increases in benefits for this reason. WRS is different in this respect from certain other public pension schemes that are running into problems of underfunding.

    I agree that an underfunded pension like you might find in Chicago or Dallas or Kentucky is a problem that will require painful choices.

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Williamsmith View Post
    My plan is fully funded as it is a unique individually regulated pension plan but it resides under the umbrella of a much larger state pension plan which is decidedly grossly underfunded. It is not grossly underfunded because of unrealistic promises. It is grossly underfunded because the governor back before the crash of 2008 was so impressed with the high yields of the market that he diverted the agreed upon payments to the fund in order to spend money on other government programs. He basically stole it from retirees. Then of course when the investments didn't meet expectations the shortfalls could never be made up.

    Now, nobody cares so much about the history of it all as much as how in tar nation are we going to pay for it?
    I for one, very much care. LEO's relatives pension is controlled, (pretty sure don't remember specifics) by the dept. That is one reason the mayor would love to take them under city control, rather then state control. He could then dip into the funded pension funds, and screw with them the way other places have.
    There are lots of examples of issues. Detroit, Puerto Rico, etc.

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