Saturday, December 06, 2014

Lotsa Public Pensioners!!!

From CalWatchdog via the Calpensions web site; Just as we've seen with social security, in a few years retired government employees are expected to outnumber the ones still working:
In a few years CalPERS retirees are expected to outnumber active workers, a national trend among public pension funds that makes them more vulnerable to big employer rate increases. - See more at: http://calwatchdog.com/2014/12/05/calpers-retirees-soon-to-surpass-workers/#sthash.NLBkMwgV.dpuf

In a few years CalPERS retirees are expected to outnumber active workers, a national trend among public pension funds that makes them more vulnerable to big employer rate increases. - See more at: http://calwatchdog.com/2014/12/05/calpers-retirees-soon-to-surpass-workers/#sthash.NLBkMwgV.dpuf
 "In a few years CalPERS retirees are expected to outnumber active workers, a national trend among public pension funds that makes them more vulnerable to big employer rate increases."

That will likely mean even more being drawn from everyone else to pay for those not working. It will also exacerbate the trend of less money for existing government services as more and more is spent on pensions.

12 Comments:

At 1:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who will do all the work that needs to be done? I guess there will be a lot of job openings.

 
At 1:41 PM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

One part of the problem here is you can't hire as many people if you're paying so much to the retired ones.

 
At 1:44 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

From personal experience, i know that CalPERS funds are in a private investment account. Dividends on money market invested payroll deductions and employer contributions are used to pay pensions and manage the account. As high paid baby boomer employees retire, there should be fewer employer contributions, resulting in less taxpayer money being contributed to the CalPERS account. Newer employees (2013+) have different agreements that also will result in less taxpayer money being contributed to pensions. This is nothing different than an individual's 401K though on a mass scale, thereby more stable. Besides, the boom of the millenial generation is larger than the baby boomers'. This might help if they decide to ever grow up and get jobs. ;)

 
At 2:37 PM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

"As high paid baby boomer employees retire, there should be fewer employer contributions, resulting in less taxpayer money being contributed to the CalPERS account. "

Not really. If the funds were fully funded, which they aren't, that might be the case. If the funds aren't fully funded, taxpayers are obligated to make sure the retired employees get the benefits as defined per agreement.

Keep in mind that nearly all public safety employees- police and fire- are under the 90% at 30 retirement agreement where they get 90% of base pay if they worked long enough. Thus, you might well be responsible for making sure they get 90% of their pay for 20 to 30 years after they retire.

That's in addition for paying new employee salary and health benefits. A few cities and counties have worked up new agreements for new employees. I'm pretty sure most, including Humboldt County and local cities, haven't.

 
At 4:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is no 90% at 30 formula for public safety. There use to be a 3% at 50 formula (3 x years of service starting at age 50). That was all changed in the 2012 Pension Reform.

 
At 5:05 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You know Fred you really don't know what you're talking about so why don't you just leave this tired old argument and get on with something you might make a difference at? Besides, I don't see you ass out there dealing with guns, drugs, and shit bags day in and day out! Had you been willing to do that, then you would deserve all the retirement pay you could get!

 
At 5:48 PM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

"You know Fred you really don't know what you're talking about so why don't you just leave this tired old argument and get on with something you might make a difference at?"

I'm posting common knowledge. You're trying to ignore it and defend the status quo. It's in the news every day, although most local and state politicos refuse to acknowledge it. I'm guessing you're a public employee union rep?

 
At 5:51 PM, Blogger Fred Mangels said...

"That was all changed in the 2012 Pension Reform."

Please elaborate. My understanding is it's pretty much the same and Governor Brown's reforms were minimal. I'm all ears, or eyes.

 
At 8:23 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

As is the case with all financial reform, it requires some time to study and understand. The biggest change is that all new employees, outside of public safety are at a 2% at 62. These are the folks that handle the real shit, like the stuff that has to go away from your residence. These jobs (shit handlers) require State Certification for increasing grade levels, my guess is the draw to work for municipal government will not be very attrative with reduced pensions,


http://www.publiclawgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/A-Guide-to-Pension-Reform-Under-AB-340-and-AB-197.pdf

 
At 8:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You either know what your talking about or you chose to hide the real facts. In Humboldt County all of the other government employees got reduced year values as a result of PEPRA Brown's Pension Reform. They used to earn 2.7% per year. They now earn 2% a year. You know who refused that modification. The cops. They kept their 3% a year. So Fred is absolutely correct that you can get 90% of your pay. The irony is once you are at 80%, it actually is advantageous to retire as less if your retirement income is taxable. Most of these people retire one day, and they are back working on Monday as a Retired Annuitant. One Humblldt County agency is about to be flooded with these annuitants who are politically connected, so they can feed more at the trough. Their retirement pay is unaffected by these 20 hour a week payouts at their already bloated high end salary rate. They do have to wait until 55 to get their retirement pay. That WAS the only change agreed to by the cops in Humboldt. No change in amount. The investment reserves cannot pay for the benefits. That is why the governments are being hit for increased contribution costs in PERS. Just google CA unfunded pension liability and you will be shocked how much is actually owed. PEPRA signed by a Democratic Governor will help but will not solve. The hogs feeding at the public trough knows no bounds.

 
At 8:43 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Like I said, it requires studying to understand the reform. A person cannot retire on Friday and come back on Monday without special circumstances. I don't know all of the requirements because... I'm not that interested.

 
At 3:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is how to do it and get $350K to boot, per year! "Tom Gazsi retired as police chief in Costa Mesa on Sunday and started work for the port police force the next day — meaning he will be collecting an annual pension of more than $185,000 in addition to his $167,000 salary." http://www.latimes.com/local/orangecounty/la-me-1209-port-chief-20141209-story.html

 

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