http://politicsuncuffed.com/pensions/ending-the-blame-game-the-other-side-of-the-pension-story/ Sat, 11 May 2013 17:44:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://politicsuncuffed.com/pensions/ending-the-blame-game-the-other-side-of-the-pension-story/#comment-190 Danoh Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:29:21 +0000 http://politicsuncuffed.com/?p=114#comment-190 This hits the nail square on the head. In California, many cities for years recevied refunds of their portion of the retirement contibution. Investment returns were very high, and Cal PERS projected that the Fund was over-funded. Politicians saw this as "extra free floating cash" that should be returned to the cities for general fund usage. However, when the market took a turn for the worst, and losses were bigger than Cal PERs could project; cities were then asked to kick in as much as 34% of an employees salary to make up for the losses. At the same time employees continued to contribute their regular percentages (7-10 % based on the contract their city had with Cal PERs) In the city I work for, they received 100% refunds for 13 consecutive years! Now does that make good buisness sense? The other problem Cal PERs has is that it's accounting practices are not the industry standard, politicians and labor unions have representitives on the Cal PERs Board of Directors, and they find it easy to refund their buddys money every chance they get. Solution: have professionals run the investments, use standardized accounting practices (not phoney actuarials that float losses or spread a fiscal year loss over a 20 year period while assuming potential grow to cover the loss), required minimum contibutions with no refunds! A lock box! This hits the nail square on the head. In California, many cities for years recevied refunds of their portion of the retirement contibution. Investment returns were very high, and Cal PERS projected that the Fund was over-funded. Politicians saw this as “extra free floating cash” that should be returned to the cities for general fund usage. However, when the market took a turn for the worst, and losses were bigger than Cal PERs could project; cities were then asked to kick in as much as 34% of an employees salary to make up for the losses. At the same time employees continued to contribute their regular percentages (7-10 % based on the contract their city had with Cal PERs) In the city I work for, they received 100% refunds for 13 consecutive years! Now does that make good buisness sense? The other problem Cal PERs has is that it’s accounting practices are not the industry standard, politicians and labor unions have representitives on the Cal PERs Board of Directors, and they find it easy to refund their buddys money every chance they get. Solution: have professionals run the investments, use standardized accounting practices (not phoney actuarials that float losses or spread a fiscal year loss over a 20 year period while assuming potential grow to cover the loss), required minimum contibutions with no refunds! A lock box!

]]> http://politicsuncuffed.com/pensions/ending-the-blame-game-the-other-side-of-the-pension-story/#comment-65 jsimm Fri, 03 Jun 2011 18:54:12 +0000 http://politicsuncuffed.com/?p=114#comment-65 eclectic dog. What you don't understand is that the more overtime you work, the more money is contributed into the system. To completely eliminate overtime from the pension benefit would also decrease the amount of contributions into it. eclectic dog. What you don’t understand is that the more overtime you work, the more money is contributed into the system. To completely eliminate overtime from the pension benefit would also decrease the amount of contributions into it.

]]> http://politicsuncuffed.com/pensions/ending-the-blame-game-the-other-side-of-the-pension-story/#comment-42 eclecticdog Mon, 02 May 2011 04:17:46 +0000 http://politicsuncuffed.com/?p=114#comment-42 Great summary on this. Pensions should also be calculated on base pay, not overtime or other pay schemes that inflate the last 3 to 5 years of service. Great summary on this. Pensions should also be calculated on base pay, not overtime or other pay schemes that inflate the last 3 to 5 years of service.

]]> http://politicsuncuffed.com/pensions/ending-the-blame-game-the-other-side-of-the-pension-story/#comment-24 Jack Prom Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:24:20 +0000 http://politicsuncuffed.com/?p=114#comment-24 Pension plans are one of the incentives to attract and retain good employees in all sectors of our economy. I do not hear about the fantastic stock options or golden parachutes that public employees get because there are none. If governors and legislators want to balance budgets on the backs of teachers and public employees they will get what they pay for. Who would want to be a teacher, police officer, fireman, or work for the goverment if what you were promised could or would be taken away with a swoosh of a pen! Pension plans are one of the incentives to attract and retain good employees in all sectors of our economy. I do not hear about the fantastic stock options or golden parachutes that public employees get because there are none. If governors and legislators want to balance budgets on the backs of teachers and public employees they will get what they pay for. Who would want to be a teacher, police officer, fireman, or work for the goverment if what you were promised could or would be taken away with a swoosh of a pen!

]]>