NY Teachers, Local Govt Retirees Should Be Very Concerned About Your Pension (welfare, benefits)
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I am a public servant. I will gladly give up my pension provided 2 things.
First, I want every penny I and my employer have contributed since I started working for the state. That would be 13 percent a month. Then I can invest that money how I think it should be invested.
Second, I want an immediate pay raise to bring me in line with my private sector counterparts. Those that have an advanced degree, 30+ years of experience, and are in charge of 6 different departments. I think that would be significantly more than my current state salary. Probably 3 times at least.
Give me those 2 concessions and I have no problem giving up my pension.
Wouldn't you want it retroactive too, in order to make up for years of lower salary?
texdav- many pensions are protected by language in that State's constitution that place pensions over bondholders.
NJ's budget is $33 billion with less than $5 billion paid to the operating account. The other $28 billion is discretionary unless you want to remove the $11 billion collected from income tax which is mandated to go towards education.
So if NJ's pension goes broke does NJ have to use the $17 billion to fund the pensions or can they continue to send the money where they want? Can the $11 billion be used to pay the teachers pension is that used for education?
Would they have to sell the Turnpike which is the most profitable road in America and which a private conglomerate offered to buy for $80 billion?
And before we claim the pensions are unsustainable shouldn't NJ have to at least make all of the payments for the 20+ years they missed plus the earnings so we can see if that is valid?
texdav- many pensions are protected by language in that State's constitution that place pensions over bondholders.
NJ's budget is $33 billion with less than $5 billion paid to the operating account. The other $28 billion is discretionary unless you want to remove the $11 billion collected from income tax which is mandated to go towards education.
So if NJ's pension goes broke does NJ have to use the $17 billion to fund the pensions or can they continue to send the money where they want? Can the $11 billion be used to pay the teachers pension is that used for education?
Would they have to sell the Turnpike which is the most profitable road in America and which a private conglomerate offered to buy for $80 billion?
And before we claim the pensions are unsustainable shouldn't NJ have to at least make all of the payments for the 20+ years they missed plus the earnings so we can see if that is valid?
No one can hold back the tide, when you have democratic governers and mayors fighting the union, you know the end to public pensions are near. Fairness is something that doesn't apply to the private sector (ask 20,000 Enron employees what happened to their $2billion retirement fund) and soon will not apply to the public sector.
I suspect that Detriot, who actually has a relativly modest pension program compared to other cities and states, will be the test case. If they are allowed to default from it's pension payments, you will see municipalities declaring bankruptcy left and right.
If you are a public employee in NY, California, NJ, Chicago, and some of those other places in trouble, and under 45 or so...don't plan on that retirement that has been promissed to you, at the retirement age you expected. It ain't happening. To another poster that is trying desperatly to grasp onto the old ways - c'est la vie
I am a public servant. I will gladly give up my pension provided 2 things.
First, I want every penny I and my employer have contributed since I started working for the state. That would be 13 percent a month. Then I can invest that money how I think it should be invested.
Second, I want an immediate pay raise to bring me in line with my private sector counterparts. Those that have an advanced degree, 30+ years of experience, and are in charge of 6 different departments. I think that would be significantly more than my current state salary. Probably 3 times at least.
Give me those 2 concessions and I have no problem giving up my pension.
This discussion involves NY (and perhaps other states with fiscally irresponsible pension plans), not SC. As I understand it, the problem with SC is management of the fund including management fees, not the pension payments itself, which I am guessing are modest and in line with the private sector. Clearly in some states the public employees are inadequately compensated. That's a totally seperate issue.
You're complaint should be with these states that have these outragous plans as it gives your profession a bad name and you get classfied with them.
This discussion involves NY (and perhaps other states with fiscally irresponsible pension plans), not SC. As I understand it, the problem with SC is management of the fund including management fees, not the pension payments itself, which I am guessing are modest and in line with the private sector. Clearly in some states the public employees are inadequately compensated. That's a totally seperate issue.
You're complaint should be with these states that have these outragous plans as it gives your profession a bad name and you get classfied with them.
Sorry it has given their state a great name and reputation to attract and retain the best. Many in NY want the best teachers possible and are willing to pay to get them. Other states are not as supportive of public education and get the results they get. If more affluent folks are willing to compensate more to get the best outcomes possible more power to them and a big TY to them. No one is forcing the districts in upstate that pay over 100K a year to do that.
Dd714- explain to me what public unions have to do with the terms of the pensions? There are thousands of non-union workers in the pensions. I am one. Plus the pensions existed prior to the creation of public sector unions- with better terms than exist now.
So why the blame on the unions regarding pensions?
Dd714- explain to me what public unions have to do with the terms of the pensions? There are thousands of non-union workers in the pensions. I am one. Plus the pensions existed prior to the creation of public sector unions- with better terms than exist now.
So why the blame on the unions regarding pensions?
Yup, bright Red states have pensions and non union states ave pensions. Old neighbor send me a blog which included how our pension has rebounded and is back above meltdown funding levels and how reforms have it on track to be fully funded within ten years. Again it is state by state and we know our own realities.
Yup, bright Red states have pensions and non union states ave pensions. Old neighbor send me a blog which included how our pension has rebounded and is back above meltdown funding levels and how reforms have it on track to be fully funded within ten years. Again it is state by state and we know our own realities.
Most states decided to give public employees pensions back in the 1950s or 1960s as an off-set to the low wages they paid their employees. Back then, working for the government was among the least desirable of jobs. States continued to give employees good pensions because they could "backload" paying for them.
Now, with so many private sector jobs lost to automation and off-shoring and with so many private employers dumping all benefits to increase profits, some people like Dd714 are jealous of public employees. Maybe Dd714 should focus his anger where it belongs: on the private employers who are screwing over their employees rather than on trying to drag down public employees to his own level.
If you are a public employee in NY, California, NJ, Chicago, and some of those other places in trouble, and under 45 or so...don't plan on that retirement that has been promissed to you, at the retirement age you expected. It ain't happening. To another poster that is trying desperatly to grasp onto the old ways - c'est la vie
Just as I know very little about New York State (or City either), you appear to know very little about California. Because you have read in the newspapers about the bankruptcies of two Calif. cities in the last two or three years, Stockton and San Bernadino, you seem to assume that the whole state is in similar condition. Actually, on the state level, Calif. is NOT one of the states in trouble. The two largest public pension funds in the United States are CalPERS and CalSTRS, the first for state employees in general and the second for teachers. And those two funds are on rather solid ground and do not create any significant drain on the state's general fund. Employees pay in 8% of their salaries over their entire working careers, which represents a considerable percentage of what it costs to fund their pensions, as opposed to the "pennies on the dollar" statement you made in a previous post.
This seems to be a very emotional subject with you, based on the over-wrought language you have used in not just one post, but in most if not all of your posts in this thread.
He has a pension he just begrudges public sector workers theirs. See he pays for their pensions. I wonder if he ever calculated how much of his taxes really goes towards pensions. It is such an insignificant number it is not worth getting all envious over the pensions.
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