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One of the great things about pensions public or private is that most of them give you the opportunity to have all 3 legs of a secure retirement in place at this time for most of us already retired. If you also Pay into SS you have
Pension
SS
Investments
Fluctuations in any won't kill you if planned well. We know from previous discussions that many of you are in strong position for over kill in retirement funding. Pensions enable many of us to implement the 62/70 strategy for SS.
Oh man, thank you, thank you and thank you again. I can go back to my nap. Not on that list9 already knew that) and hopefully those that are will enact the needed reforms so those pensioners if worried at all can go back to their nap. Pensions are like SS it depends on your age in addition to the source of your public pension. Don't know that to many 70 year olds are worried about SS. How many pension reform plans effect current retiree's in ways other than possible COLA increases? Yes folks in Illinois should be concerned and perhaps if any post in here they could weigh in.
Did you look at the source of the article for the other states? Here's the list when they run out of money:
[LEFT]2023: Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota and Mississippi 2024: Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia 2025: Missouri 2026: Maine, Massachusetts and New Mexico 2027: Montana and Rhode Island 2028: Vermont 2029: Arizona 2030: Arkansas, California, Ohio, Wyoming 2031: South Dakota 2032: Nebraska 2033: Virginia, Washington 2035: Delaware, Iowa, Tennessee 2036: Utah 2037: Texas 2038: Wisconsin 2039: Oregon 2041: North Dakota 2043: Idaho 2047: Georgia Never: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina and New York
Did you look at the source of the article for the other states? Here's the list when they run out of money:
[LEFT]2023: Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota and Mississippi 2024: Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia 2025: Missouri 2026: Maine, Massachusetts and New Mexico 2027: Montana and Rhode Island 2028: Vermont 2029: Arizona 2030: Arkansas, California, Ohio, Wyoming 2031: South Dakota 2032: Nebraska 2033: Virginia, Washington 2035: Delaware, Iowa, Tennessee 2036: Utah 2037: Texas 2038: Wisconsin 2039: Oregon 2041: North Dakota 2043: Idaho 2047: Georgia Never: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina and New York
Gotcha and by then a number will have swallowed the fix pill and future retiree's will feel the medicine. Increased retirement age and increased contributions. Sorta along the lines of SS. Also please note the link is not entitled when they WILL run out of money as you indicate by when they MAY run out of money. Of course proper attention to fixing it for those not in retirement yet will do just fine to get rid of the may.
Lots of good choices and it doesn't appear you are on the endangered pension fund list as linked in another post. Perhaps that is part of why we have such differing reactions on the subject. Folks know the status of their fund and this tends to be a general discussion.
Note the original link says May and the most frequent version of has changed to Will. However unless you feel your state will not make the needed reforms and you are retired the problem is? As noted the reforms made thus far related to new hires as they are part of the calculation. Current hires with legal changes might feel the pinch but can anyone link a serious discussion about changing pensions in any state for current retiree's or for current SS recipients? That is what would be of interest to those of us already collecting. Great to see some states will never run out and I am sure folks there are really sleeping well. Just like SS the impact on current retiree's could be COLA but that is certainly manageable for most as their pensions are on top of SS and for a large number in addition to their 403B portfolio's. To that degree the possible impact on those of us with pensions varies with the individual. I suspect those waiting to 70 to collect SS have that as a cushion also.
Did you look at the source of the article for the other states? Here's the list when they run out of money:
[LEFT]2023: Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota and Mississippi 2024: Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia 2025: Missouri 2026: Maine, Massachusetts and New Mexico 2027: Montana and Rhode Island 2028: Vermont 2029: Arizona 2030: Arkansas, California, Ohio, Wyoming 2031: South Dakota 2032: Nebraska 2033: Virginia, Washington 2035: Delaware, Iowa, Tennessee 2036: Utah 2037: Texas 2038: Wisconsin 2039: Oregon 2041: North Dakota 2043: Idaho 2047: Georgia Never: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina and New York
Evidently most of the normal folks posting here who receive pensions aren't worried enough to respond with concerns. Are you part of the worried recipient ranks?
Evidently most of the normal folks posting here who receive pensions aren't worried enough to respond with concerns. Are you part of the worried recipient ranks?
I'm not worried because I've planned my retirement WITHOUT counting on SS. Our government already borrowed the SS money and there's nothing sitting there but IOU's right now.
Current generation is working at lower salaries and there's less of them then the boomers who are about to retire next year in droves.
Plan for the worst and hope for the best. If I get any SS then it's all extra and I will use it for traveling.
This thread is pretty old but the SS problem has not been solved. It just keeps getting pushed aside by Congress as they don't even want to touch this hot potato. But they will have to address it one day.
I'm not worried because I've planned my retirement WITHOUT counting on SS. Our government already borrowed the SS money and there's nothing sitting there but IOU's right now.
Current generation is working at lower salaries and there's less of them then the boomers who are about to retire next year in droves.
Plan for the worst and hope for the best. If I get any SS then it's all extra and I will use it for traveling.
This thread is pretty old but the SS problem has not been solved. It just keeps getting pushed aside by Congress as they don't even want to touch this hot potato. But they will have to address it one day.
I hear ya but I think the OP was hoping to focus on state and local pensions.
I hear ya but I think the OP was hoping to focus on state and local pensions.
Okay, I'll bite. My husband has a state pension (NJ Teacher). Am I losing sleep at night - no, but I am concerned.
NJ's biggest problem is that the state did not put in their payments for many years. I believe an earlier poster had a link re: NJ pension proposed changes for current workers. I have no idea if this is enough to solve the shortfall. However, our governor still made no payment this year, so we'll see what happens in the future. I don't trust our state government to do what is necessary to make things better.
Governor Christie has proposed doing away with COLA increases. Doesn't make me happy, but we'd be okay. It wouldn't surprise me if they also make changes to the health benefits. If we had to make a modest contribution, I could live with it - if we had to pay all, that would be a big hit.
So, while I'm not up at night worrying, there is some concern for the future. We do have other savings, but obviously count on our pension to pay the bills.
Okay, I'll bite. My husband has a state pension (NJ Teacher). Am I losing sleep at night - no, but I am concerned.
NJ's biggest problem is that the state did not put in their payments for many years. I believe an earlier poster had a link re: NJ pension proposed changes for current workers. I have no idea if this is enough to solve the shortfall. However, our governor still made no payment this year, so we'll see what happens in the future. I don't trust our state government to do what is necessary to make things better.
Governor Christie has proposed doing away with COLA increases. Doesn't make me happy, but we'd be okay. It wouldn't surprise me if they also make changes to the health benefits. If we had to make a modest contribution, I could live with it - if we had to pay all, that would be a big hit.
So, while I'm not up at night worrying, there is some concern for the future. We do have other savings, but obviously count on our pension to pay the bills.
From what I have read you have it right on. NJ is one of the worse case scenario's and yet no one is really talking about cutting benefits back for current retiree's just not increasing them via COLA. That's why my suggestion to those with pensions is to have a leg of retirement in their 403B and to use that as a hedge against inflation. Pensions were not met to be the sole source of retirement income nor was a pension and SS meant to be the only legs. Health benefits are all over the table and if that is in question you can always wait until 65 to retire and then you are dealing with your supplemental.
Evidently most of the normal folks posting here who receive pensions aren't worried enough to respond with concerns. Are you part of the worried recipient ranks?
No, my pension will come from Alaska. I believe the Alaska Legislature saw signs of the pending crisis and took steps over the years to alleviate it. Currently, there are 4 tiers in the retirement plan (first 3 - defined benefit, last 1 - defined contribution), which shows that they've taken steps over the years to fix it. Also, there have been court cases that make it impossible for them to go back and reduce benefits for the prior tiers.
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