Posted on 02/16/2015 10:47:39 AM PST by blam
John Mauldin
February 16, 2015
We do not have to look to Greece to find massively underfunded obligations. Here in the US we can find hundreds of examples, willingly created by politicians and businessmen who proclaim they are working for the public good.
We call them pension funds, but they’re just another form of unfunded debt.
A sovereign bond is a promise to pay a certain amount of money over time. A defined-benefit pension fund is a promise to pay a certain amount of income over time. The value of either is determined by the ability of the government or the pension fund (or its sponsor) to pay.
I am in the Cayman Islands as I write this letter, to speak at an alternative investment conference attended by the management of some of the largest pension funds in the US and Europe, both public and private. Being here has motivated me to write this week’s letter on the problems that pension funds face. The pension fund managers I have talked with take their fiduciary obligations seriously, and they face some serious challenges.
I was on the stage with Nouriel Roubini (who makes me come off as the optimist), and we were talking about macroeconomic risks.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Soylent Green on its way.
There are people who made mistakes and should be imprisoned. There are others who misled and perhaps should be executed for the damage they have caused to the future of others and the economy as a whole.
What did you think the “death panels” are all about? It’s the obamacare way of cutting costs so they can redistribute that money.
The ObamaCare solution to this problem is right around the corner.
Hmmm, guess the fact that math is not a friend (and never has been a friend) of liberals...who, we must remember, put together the vast majority of these poorly planned pension plans.
Sorry, Blam, most real planners plan for a some flex...etc.
The fault, dear Brutus, lies with idiots trying to do something far beyond their limited abilities.
We do need death panels, but ONLY FOR POLITICIANS : )
> Obama’s Death Squads/Panels should correct this problem, eh?
Beat me to it...: )
ObamaCare will take care of that little problem..........................
In East Germany when you were 65 they would allow you to leave they got all the work out of you.
And those people are millions of Americans.
Probably including many people you know.
When I was growing up there were many articles in the local papers (Tulsa World and Tulsa Tribune) discussing the eventual consequences of underfunded pension programs.
People voted for politicians from both parties supporting all this pork. Opposing it was political suicide.
Math is hard, evidently.
If this seems like an attack on you or any people you know, well, it might be warranted.
I am an independent conservative and not a Republican for a reason.
The problem lies at the feet of the very concept of “public” employee unions.
You can’t have entity A negotiating with entity B while entity C is going to be the one paying for the final agreement.
As crazy as it sounds, we have a 18 trillion dollar debt....so now it is 19 trillion. Sheesh sad that it doesn’t make much difference in our debt.
Obamacare will reverse this trend.
“The fault, dear Brutus, lies with idiots trying to do something far beyond their limited abilities.”
The real problem is that there is no such thing as a “free lunch!” Democrats are still convinced that there is a way to pick up a turd by the “clean end.”
Be happy and enjoy the lovely flowers like Edward G. ;)
“We call them pension funds, but they’re just another form of unfunded debt.”
Well, at least the public pensions legally get away with this! Any CEO that lets his private pension fund become undfunded will be thrown in jail. Yet every Mayor, County Treasurer, Governor and Pres can do it over and over.
The biggest problem we have with Public Pensions, including Social Security is SLAVERY.
“If he lowers his projected rate of returns, then the people (teachers, firemen etc.) covered by the plan will have to make higher annual contributions.”
When they refuse to be Honest in their projections they the hold future generations in “Involuntary Servitude” to pay for their malfeasance and the wants of the previous generations.
DEBT SLAVERY, Welcome to America.
Where is it that the federal government has complete control of healthcare? Veterans Affairs. Those Veterans are living too long. Is it just incompetence in the VA? Or is it reducing costs?
Wait until we get national healthcare. The government doesn’t have to have someone walk into your hospital room and put a bullet in your head. They just have to appear to be incompetent. That will bring expenses down.
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