Posted on 02/07/2018 8:23:14 AM PST by SeekAndFind
It could cause a civil war. People who live in states that live within their means and accept reasonable pensions and have kept the belt tight and sacrificed will revolt if told they have to now pay for pensions of others that they can never dream of having.
The main thing we learned in 2008 was that if you run to Congress screaming for a bailout with sufficiently alarming “the sky is falling” rhetoric, in the end you WILL be bailed out.
And most Republicans are going to end up voting yea.
The answer is that CURRENT pols now need to fix it, they need to make drastic spending cuts OR tell their constituents/pensioners that they may only see 60 cents on the dollar. It was always fuzzy math to begin with.
It's the only answer. DB's in the public sector were always smoke and mirrors.
Of course no politicians have the political courage to do that. They will conduct business as usual right up until the time they run to the Federal government for a bailout.
And I (along with many) do the same level of contribution towards my 401K, plus being vulnerable to market swings on the value of my 401K investment. When my 401K money runs out, then that's it. Welcome to our world.
the ninth year of a bull market.
It would be interesting to see that chart with inflation numbers added in. Not the fake numbers the feds have been pushing for the last decade either. Actual numbers that reflect the real world. It wouldn’t look nearly as good I suspect.
Gov’t pension: $68,673
YOU: $32,244 <- if even that!
What is the Average Pension for a Retired Government Worker in California?
https://californiapolicycenter.org/what-is-the-average-pension-for-a-retired-government-worker-in-california/
FTA: The average full career (30 years work) pension for a retired public employee in California was $68,673 in 2015, not including benefits. This is in comparison to the average pay (not including benefits) for an active full-time worker in the private sector in California, which in 2015 was $54,326, and to the maximum Social Security Benefit for a high wage earner retiring at age 66, which in 2015 was $32,244.
The market went back up because in early 2009 valuations were at rock bottom. A lack of liquidity is what the problem was about, not a lack of economic value in equities.
The USA and the Central Banks of the world printed money to reinflate the system, as the should have done. It worked.
Problem is, in the USA, our economy grew never as much as 3% in any year!! So, the only thing stocks did was go back to and above fair market value.
With Trump, we finally have a chance to see the US economy grow generically and possibly start chalking up 5-7 % growth rates. In that case, the market can grow. If not, then PE ratios of about 25 are unwarranted on the SP500.
I’m a 26 yr veteran of finance as a RIA, in private practice.
>>And I (along with many) do the same level of contribution towards my 401K, plus being vulnerable to market swings on the value of my 401K investment. When my 401K money runs out, then that’s it. Welcome to our world.
I didn’t get my job as a welfare payment or through some f’n diversity lotto! I served in the Navy to get my training, then spent 20 years in private industry developing my skills to become a highly-skilled industrial automation programmer, and chose to do my last 20 years in a municipal utility. As I have served the community for 15years, I have made major sacrifices to EARN that pension.
Your “sacrifices” and “service” are no more and no less than anyone in the private sector. I join in welcoming you to our world. Private defined benefit pensions went the way of the dinosaur for us twenty years ago.
>>Your “sacrifices” and “service” are no more and no less than anyone in the private sector. I join in welcoming you to our world. Private defined benefit pensions went the way of the dinosaur for us twenty years ago.
I’ve worked for a private utility and a public utility, as well as 2 major corporations. Your ignorance of the sacrifices demanded by a public utility are excusable since you don’t work in the industry. I’ve done the same kind of work for all 4 so I am comparing apples to apples.
You did what you did just as anyone who has worked all their lives, but somehow seem to expect a gold star because government. Do you have the slightest inkling how angering it is for people who have had any hope of a secure retirement stripped away from them to have to pay taxes in order to employ people who are far better treated than they are? It’s absolutely galling and you might be better served discussing your government pension woes with a different crowd, you won’t find much sympathy because we’ve been in that boat for twenty years. Any sympathy from the gold star government worker crowd? Nope. Tax increases, Obamacare, more and more garbage heaped upon the productive sector that actually produces something other than paperwork.
>>people who are far better treated than they are? It’s absolutely galling
In other words, you are no better than some Progressive who is guilty of wealth envy and thinks that everything should be “fair”.
In my years before going to work for the municipal utility, I endured the theft of one private pension during a buyout. Then I had a factory moved to Mexico by NAFTA to the applause of Wall St investors and I lost that pension because I was 3 months shy of being vested and that company had an all or nothing vesting policy.
So, I got screwed royally and that is the reason why I went to the municipal utility! So put down your SJW signs.
>>the productive sector that actually produces something other than paperwork.
My sector is very productive...or do you not use water or toilets?
That's hilarious. You're reaching into the pockets of others by force of government for your own entitlements and wanting a gold star for it, but think you're the conservative here.
My water comes from a well that I paid for. My toilet flushes into a septic system that I own. Alien concept for you, I know, but it’s true.
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