Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

The Trillion-Dollar Pension Crisis Is Only Getting Worse Because People Are Living Too Long
BI ^ | 2-16-2014 | John Mauldin

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 ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bankrupt; deathpanels; idiocracy; investing; nazism; oldage; palinwasright; pension; sloth; stupidity
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-23 next last
Obama's Death Squads/Panels should correct this problem, eh?
1 posted on 02/16/2015 10:47:39 AM PST by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: blam

Soylent Green on its way.


2 posted on 02/16/2015 10:49:41 AM PST by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

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.


3 posted on 02/16/2015 10:51:31 AM PST by jimfree (In November 2016 my 14 y/o granddaughter will have more quality exec experience than Barack Obama)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

What did you think the “death panels” are all about? It’s the obamacare way of cutting costs so they can redistribute that money.


4 posted on 02/16/2015 10:52:54 AM PST by FrankR (They will become our ultimate masters the day we surrender the 2nd Amendment.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

The ObamaCare solution to this problem is right around the corner.


5 posted on 02/16/2015 10:53:48 AM PST by txrefugee
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

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.


6 posted on 02/16/2015 10:53:49 AM PST by Da Coyote
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

We do need death panels, but ONLY FOR POLITICIANS : )


7 posted on 02/16/2015 10:55:18 AM PST by stephenjohnbanker (My Batting Average( 1,000) (GOPe is that easy to read))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam


8 posted on 02/16/2015 11:01:22 AM PST by Iron Munro (Mark Steyn: “fundamentally transformed” is a euphemism for “wrecked beyond repair.”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

> Obama’s Death Squads/Panels should correct this problem, eh?

Beat me to it...: )


9 posted on 02/16/2015 11:02:42 AM PST by jsanders2001
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

ObamaCare will take care of that little problem..........................


10 posted on 02/16/2015 11:06:04 AM PST by Red Badger (If you compromise with evil, you just get more evil..........................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jsanders2001

In East Germany when you were 65 they would allow you to leave they got all the work out of you.


11 posted on 02/16/2015 11:07:44 AM PST by scooby321
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: jimfree

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.


12 posted on 02/16/2015 11:08:12 AM PST by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: jimfree

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.


13 posted on 02/16/2015 11:08:44 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: blam

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.


14 posted on 02/16/2015 11:08:55 AM PST by napscoordinator (Walker for President 2016. The only candidate with actual real RESULTS!!!!! The rest...talkers!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

Obamacare will reverse this trend.


15 posted on 02/16/2015 11:10:59 AM PST by Pietro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Da Coyote

“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.”


16 posted on 02/16/2015 11:16:00 AM PST by vette6387
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Jim Robinson

Be happy and enjoy the lovely flowers like Edward G. ;)

17 posted on 02/16/2015 11:18:59 AM PST by beaversmom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: blam

“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.


18 posted on 02/16/2015 11:40:07 AM PST by CSM
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

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.


19 posted on 02/16/2015 11:44:56 AM PST by eyeamok
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: blam

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.


20 posted on 02/16/2015 11:51:42 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-23 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson