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Pensions ask retirees to pay back tens of thousands
CNN.COM ^ | 10/25/13 | MELANIE HICKEN

Posted on 10/25/2013 2:10:27 PM PDT by GilGil

For retirees, it can mean owing tens of thousands of dollars. And with little warning, their pension checks are being slashed to cover their debt.

In April 2011, New Jersey resident Carol Montague received a letter from American Water Works Co.'s pension plan saying it had overpaid her for more than five years and wanted its money back -- plus interest. Montague, now 67, was told she owed roughly $45,000.

(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: pensions; retiree; retirement; senior
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The pension makes a mistake and the retiree pays for it. This is the Obama world. Always blame someone else for your problems.
1 posted on 10/25/2013 2:10:27 PM PDT by GilGil
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To: GilGil

That beats the taxpayer paying for it.


2 posted on 10/25/2013 2:12:04 PM PDT by rottndog ('Live Free Or Die' Ain't just words on a bumber sticker...or a tagline.)
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To: GilGil

What about all the retirees who have died? Will they attach the estates?..................


3 posted on 10/25/2013 2:13:26 PM PDT by Red Badger (The only way to defeat liberalism is to give them everything they want......then pick up the pieces.)
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To: GilGil

Monopoly money.


4 posted on 10/25/2013 2:14:12 PM PDT by boomop1 (term limits will only save this country.)
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To: rottndog

People think Detroit is bad but they haven’t seen nuthin yet.


5 posted on 10/25/2013 2:14:47 PM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: GilGil

With interest? GFY.


6 posted on 10/25/2013 2:15:07 PM PDT by Ray76 (You can't win if you don't fight. Remember the Barrycades!)
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To: GilGil

“Fundamentally Transforming the United States of America”....

This bastard meant exactly what he said.

If we as a People don’t figure out a way to stop it, it will get much worse.... I think very soon.


7 posted on 10/25/2013 2:18:36 PM PDT by Gator113 ( Cruz, Palin and Lee speak for me, most everyone else is just noise.)
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To: GilGil
It's not the pensioner at fault here, so why should they pay?

I smell class-action, where the lawyers will make millions and the pensioners will only have to pay back 40%.....

The pension system managers are the problem here. They're the ones who mismanaged and overpaid. The pensioners should sue them and the pension plan. Rock their boat.

8 posted on 10/25/2013 2:18:48 PM PDT by jeffc (The U.S. media are our enemy)
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To: GilGil

Probably legit in this lady’s case, but as time goes on, you just know all those underfunded pension plans across the nation are going to be discovering “mistakes” in their accounting, and will bleed the elderly dry. Don’t agree with our math? Sue us. See you in court. At age 67 and up, with one foot in the grave, they can just run the clock out.


9 posted on 10/25/2013 2:20:07 PM PDT by PowderMonkey (WILL WORK FOR AMMO)
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To: jeffc
It's not the pensioner at fault here, so why should they pay?

Maybe it's the law. When banks make similar mistakes, the money has to be paid back.

10 posted on 10/25/2013 2:21:02 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: GilGil

This is a great idea! They should retroactively decide to means test for social security, and try to collect the overpayment! My grandparents have been dead for a lot of years, but I’m here, and maybe they can extort the money out of me!


11 posted on 10/25/2013 2:21:16 PM PDT by ToastedHead
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To: Gator113
“Fundamentally Transforming the United States of America”

When I asked my wife to marry me, I didn't think to myself, "I want to fundamentally transform her."

Congratulations, America. Nice president you elected.

12 posted on 10/25/2013 2:21:24 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: GilGil

Does anyone else wonder if the pension funds that notoriously project fantastically unreal returns on their investments may have been overpaying on purpose and can’t hide it anymore?


13 posted on 10/25/2013 2:21:33 PM PDT by Pan_Yan
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To: PowderMonkey

That is my thinking. This is a scheme to save money nothing more.


14 posted on 10/25/2013 2:21:47 PM PDT by GilGil
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To: GilGil

Can’t get blood from a stone. Particularly if the stone is retired and/or dead.


15 posted on 10/25/2013 2:22:17 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Lancey Howard
When I asked my wife to marry me, I didn't think to myself, "I want to fundamentally transform her."

I've seen lots of people do that and it never ends well.

16 posted on 10/25/2013 2:23:22 PM PDT by Pan_Yan
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To: Moonman62

It’s called unjust enrichment. The cases I am aware of have been settled before going to court. The defendents knowingly retained money they knew was not theirs, and did little or nothing to try to return it. Some actually spent it-that’s another thing.

In the case of pensions though, I would think that the recipient would be unaware of it, and there should be some sort of accomodation for the pay back, if any.

Wouldn’t a pension manager have some sort of liability policy to cover this rather than making some poor retiree have to bear the burden of the manager’s mistake?


17 posted on 10/25/2013 2:29:46 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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To: greeneyes

Right, they were probably not aware and this could be catastrophic for them. Who says they have their math correct now? It’s too convenient to say this and reduce your pension - smells dirty to me. You’d have to go through all kinds of legal hoops to deal with it. Who says they won’t say the same thing an a couple of years - reduce it again?


18 posted on 10/25/2013 2:33:44 PM PDT by fuzzylogic (welfare state = sharing consequences of poor moral choices among everybody)
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To: GilGil
The pension makes a mistake and the retiree pays for it. This is the Obama world. Always blame someone else for your problems.

Actually it's not the fault of Obamacare, these errors occured years ago and both the pensioners highlighted were actually at fault even tho the article never mentioned it.

In the case of the last guy who was overpaid $200+ per month, he knew damn well that his disability pension was initially calculated on his not being eligible for Social Security benefits and that he was obligated to notify his employer of any award which would have reduced his disability payment.

He did not do so and continued to collect his unreduced disability payment as well as his social security until his company finally caught up with him.

And in the case of Carol Montague, it's apparent she continued to receive a retirement supplement following the age of SS eligibility, 62, and never reported it to her employer.

While you can attempt to blame the pension fund administrators for their own errors, the fact remains that the recipients of these overpayment know full damn well that they were receiving benefits to which they were not entitled to and were obligated to notify their pension fund administrators of these overpayments...........

19 posted on 10/25/2013 2:34:36 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (Make sure you have removed the kleenex from your pockets before doing laundry)
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To: fuzzylogic

Strikes me the same. Awfully convenient for them.


20 posted on 10/25/2013 2:35:00 PM PDT by GilGil
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