Posted on 02/14/2016 8:04:37 AM PST by Lorianne
Oregon Treasurer and Portland mayoral candidate Ted Wheeler issued a statement last week noting that the state pension fund’s investment returns were 2.1% in 2015. That beat the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and topped the performance of 88% of comparable institutional investment funds. What Wheeler’s statement didn’t mention was that investment returns for the year still fell 5.6 percentage points below the system’s 7.75% assumed rate of return for 2015. That’s terrible news for public employers and taxpayers. It means the pension system’s unfunded liability just increased by another 20% — growing from $18 billion at the end of 2014 to between $21 and $22 billion a year later. That will put renewed upward pressure on payments the system’s 925 public-sector employers are required to make.
Public employers had already been warned to expect maximum increases over the next six years, which would take their pension fund contribution rates from an average of about 18% of payroll to nearly 30%, redirecting billions of dollars out of public coffers and into the retirement system. In reality, those “maximum†increases could be a lot bigger. Milliman Inc., the actuary for the Public Employees Retirement System, told board members at their regular meeting Feb. 5 that the pension fund now has 71 to 72 cents in assets for every $1 in liabilities. That’s an average number across the entire system. Some individual employers’ accounts, including the system’s school district rate pool, are flirting with the 70% threshold that triggers larger maximum rate increases.
(Excerpt) Read more at argusobserver.com ...
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Just a minute. Have to catch my breath.
Hahahahahahahahahahaha!
Government employees warning everyone that there’s not enough tax money.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Up your taxes, Oregon!
Well, just increase the cigarette tax. that should do it
On what planet would any prudent financial manager use 7.75% for 2015 forecasting? Whoever did this must have learned their economics from Professor Rachel Maddow or Professor Jon Stewart.
On what planet would any prudent financial manager use 7.75% for 2015 forecasting?
However, most public pensions are underfunded (sometimes drastically so). So a declining stock market can make things really bad in the short term.
Sadly, many states and even this country itself, need a fiscal crisis and bankruptcy to trigger reform. It won’t happen any other way
With massive debt and fake federal reserve notes, the corrupt progressive-left machine keeps running
If that rate is universally used, there must be a lot of disappointed fund managers and clients. The S&P return rate you quoted in your reply to me ran through 2008. How has it been since then?
It all depends where you start. The annualized 10 year S&P return is 6.5%. Obviously below the historical mean. Since March 2009 though, its 13.5%.
Here’s an Obama-like solution.
Seize all the assets of a government pensioner, up to the amount they got after retirement, when they die, and put that money back in the pension fund.
It takes a village, after all.
Raise the taxes on tax paying Americans to continue funding the fat gold plated pensions of government employees, most of which are unionized.
However, there will be no increase this year in Social Security for millions living from month to month on fixed incomes.
Raise government employees’ and government pensioners’ property taxes. Recirculating debt: it could be a perpetual motion machine.
;-)
LIVE IT UP govt workers....
meanwhile, our govt employees can retire after 20 or 30 and live a life of leasure.
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