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Teacher pensions: The math adds up to a crisis!

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15 comments

  • nards444
    So still combining real issues with conspiracy theories.

    The real problems with pension or defined benefits is they were put in place decades ago without thinking that the economy might change and they might not be able to pay for them later.
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  • serf
    quote:Originally posted by nards444
    So still combining real issues with conspiracy theories.

    The real problems with pension or defined benefits is they were put in place decades ago without thinking that the economy might change and they might not be able to pay for them later.


    Yeah you mean the Glass-Steagall act was still in force to prevent the casino gambling that forced the 2008 bailout of big banks! Plus the

    serf

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass–Steagall:_Aftermath_of_repeal#Commentator_response_to_Section_20_and_32_repeal

    Martin Mayer argued there were "three reasonable arguments" for tying Glass-Steagall repeal to the financial crisis: (1) it invited banks to enter risks they did not understand; (2) it created "network integration" that increased contagion; and (3) it joined the incompatible businesses of commercial and investment banking. Mayer, however, then described banking developments in the 1970s and 1980s that had already established these conditions before the GLBA repealed Sections 20 and 32.[60] Mayer's 1974 book The Bankers detailed the "revolution in banking" that followed Citibank establishing a liquid secondary market in "negotiable certificates of deposit" in 1961. This new "liability management" permitted banks to fund their activities through the "capital markets," like nonbank lenders in the "shadow banking market," rather than through the traditional regulated bank deposit market envisioned by the 1933 Banking Act.[61] In 1973 Sherman J. Maisel wrote of his time on the Federal Reserve Board and described how "[t]he banking system today is far different from what it was even in 1960" as "formerly little used instruments" were used in the "money markets" and "turned out to be extremely volatile.
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  • Smitty500mag
    quote:Originally posted by nards444
    So still combining real issues with conspiracy theories.

    The real problems with pension or defined benefits is they were put in place decades ago without thinking that the economy might change and they might not be able to pay for them later.


    No, the real problem is that the government dips into these retirement programs and uses the money for every thing but what it was intended to be used for!
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  • nards444
    quote:Originally posted by Smitty500mag
    quote:Originally posted by nards444
    So still combining real issues with conspiracy theories.

    The real problems with pension or defined benefits is they were put in place decades ago without thinking that the economy might change and they might not be able to pay for them later.


    No, the real problem is that the government dips into these retirement programs and uses the money for every thing but what it was intended to be used for!





    thats true too. But a lot of this defined pension stuff was not thought out and worked back then but doesnt work now.
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  • jonk
    So my dad was a teacher. Retired now. He paid into Ohio State Teachers Retirement system for all 35 years. I don't know how much of each paycheck went into it, but it was substantial, say 10%.

    Let's say that over those 35 years he had an average salary of $30,000. He started at 10k, finished at 60k. That's 3k per year or pretty close to 100k overall that he would have put into the system.

    The average CD rate over that time was about 8 percent. Compounded annually that would give him just under 700k available in retirement funds. This is assuming that sort of investment on the part of STRS.

    His deal was he'd get 66 percent of the average salary of his final 5 years at work, or in his case, about $35k/yr in pension. That would be enough to last 20 years, until he was 82; but considering that the money left continues to earn interest, it should in theory last him the rest of his life, even if he lives to 100.

    The system, as designed, works fine; it isn't that you the taxpayer are supposed to pay for the retirement, each teacher saves for the retirement over the course of his career.

    The PROBLEM is that the government entities running the fund have grossly mismanaged the money and other agencies have dipped into it, leaving it empty. In other words, if the retirement fund is essentially a big savings account for each teacher, that he payed into with his own money, the government stole it. Simple as that.
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  • nards444
    quote:Originally posted by jonk
    So my dad was a teacher. Retired now. He paid into Ohio State Teachers Retirement system for all 35 years. I don't know how much of each paycheck went into it, but it was substantial, say 10%.

    Let's say that over those 35 years he had an average salary of $30,000. He started at 10k, finished at 60k. That's 3k per year or pretty close to 100k overall that he would have put into the system.

    The average CD rate over that time was about 8 percent. Compounded annually that would give him just under 700k available in retirement funds. This is assuming that sort of investment on the part of STRS.

    His deal was he'd get 66 percent of the average salary of his final 5 years at work, or in his case, about $35k/yr in pension. That would be enough to last 20 years, until he was 82; but considering that the money left continues to earn interest, it should in theory last him the rest of his life, even if he lives to 100.

    The system, as designed, works fine; it isn't that you the taxpayer are supposed to pay for the retirement, each teacher saves for the retirement over the course of his career.

    The PROBLEM is that the government entities running the fund have grossly mismanaged the money and other agencies have dipped into it, leaving it empty. In other words, if the retirement fund is essentially a big savings account for each teacher, that he payed into with his own money, the government stole it. Simple as that.


    Thats true as well and good points. But I think we might be missing the fact that for one companies may not have figured in life expectancies which have gone up over 10 years in the last 30 years. You have 1000 employees at say 20 grand per yer times an extra 10 years it adds up, and people arent necessarily retiring 10 years later either.

    Lastly you have make promises as in 50% pension or back to a dollar figure of 20 grand per yer, you have to provide that regardless if the market produced good earnings or not. That is why companies and goverment are now lowering their defined BallPark Frankons and turining to contribution plans, where they say hey, here is less of a pension but we will contribute to your 401k. Less risk for the company more for the employee.


    Really its hard to, today say we will give you 20 grand a year after you retire until you die. Theres a lot that can happen in 30 years until that person retires
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  • chiefr
    quote:Originally posted by Smitty500mag
    quote:Originally posted by nards444
    So still combining real issues with conspiracy theories.

    The real problems with pension or defined benefits is they were put in place decades ago without thinking that the economy might change and they might not be able to pay for them later.


    No, the real problem is that the government dips into these retirement programs and uses the money for every thing but what it was intended to be used for!




    Yep.
    The "General Funds" syndrome. General funds tend to gravitate past the Schwarzchild radius into a singularity.

    What is frightening about government pensions is taxes WILL be raised despite economic conditions so the conies in government can take care of their own.
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  • serf
    The government is corrupt does not safe guard anyone's trust fund or pension plan.

    When a group of people elected can steal and get away with it then it is called a mistake or a bad calculation is a fallacy!

    It's a crime and governments have done it forever to it's subjects (slaves). Term limits for Congress!

    serf

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/11/01/1340826/-Big-Money-Buying-Votes-End-It

    One might think then that public funding of elections would gain acceptance and predominance in a democracy but it has not worked that way in the USA (probably nowhere). Extant politicians (could not have been elected without big money) put enough "big money" favoritism into such legislation as to promote its immediate or eventual failure while at the same time they can say they voted for the legislation. Supreme courts have often, if not predominantly, found against such legislation, even when adopted by ballot initiatives.

    Once a government allows non-public money to influence elections how can the public regain "one person one vote equivalence" in the political marketplace?
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  • mango tango
    In Illinois, the pensions are sure to bankrupt the State!
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  • chiefr
    quote:Originally posted by mango tango
    In Illinois, the pensions are sure to bankrupt the State!



    It would be nice if it worked that way.
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  • asop
    My wife is a retired Illinois teacher, and I agree her retirement pension is pretty good. BUT keep in mind the city, county and state workers with these BIG perk contracts & retirement parachutes are what really is the biggest part of the problem. Democratic politicians and the unions have had a gravy train all at the cost of the tax payers for years. AND still do. Hope Rauner can change this.
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  • austin20
    For years municipalities got away with paying low wages to teachers, firefigthers, police, etc with the promise of a decent/good pension.. Those promises must be kept..
    The other side of the coin is this. Paying a teacher, firefighter, police officer, etc. that decent/good pension for 30-40 years of retirement after they only have to work 20-27 years seems very hard for a municipality to sustain.
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  • 1BigGuy
    I'm a teacher. I served for 31.5 years so far. I'm almost 54 years old. I hope that my retirement fund (into which I have been paying for those 31.5 years so far), will be there for me when I finally get to access it fully.
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  • discusdad
    no, you are wrong. the pension funds have been stolen by the politicians for years, and the teacher contributions have been used for any and all slush funds imaginable. there is a reason its called UNFUNDED LIABILITIES. its because the state has not done its part in funding the plans while the teacher has.....
    quote:Originally posted by mango tango
    In Illinois, the pensions are sure to bankrupt the State!
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  • gruntled
    The problem with the government pension problems is that the unions buy the people sitting on the other side of the table. In essence you have the union sitting on both sides of the table. The people on the government side don't care what it costs or if it can be paid. All they care about is being re-elected. They will be long gone (with their own pensions) by the time the systems fail. Same with Social
    Security.
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