JumpinJack
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The U.S. is facing a $1 trillion pension shortfall because states aren't paying enough money into their retirement plans for public workers.
Just 15 states contributed enough into public pension funds in 2014 to both pay retiree benefits and start to pay down their debt, according to a Pew Charitable Trusts report released Wednesday.
In that year, state-run retirement systems had a $934 billion gap between benefits promised and how much is saved to fund those payments. Because of strong investment returns, that's a smaller shortfall than the previous year.
But preliminary data shows that the funding gap will grow again in 2015, topping $1 trillion -- thanks to weaker returns.
"The lesson here is that state and local policymakers cannot count solely on investment returns to close the pension funding gap over the long term," the report said.
They also need to change their funding policies so they start paying down their pension debt -- which means contributing more than 100% of the needed funding to meet benefit obligations.
The 15 states that did contribute enough in 2014 are: West Virginia, New York, Indiana, South Dakota, Louisiana, Utah, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Nebraska, Maine, Idaho, Vermont, North Carolina and Delaware.
States face a $1 trillion public pension shortfall - Aug. 24, 2016
and it just keeps getting worse and worse for the taxpayer
and you and i both know, the feds will bail them out....
just as the states will bail out the cities and counties who let their pension issues get out of hand
pensions just dont work anymore....not with the old numbers....it has been proven time and time again
we are living too long....cant work for 40 years, and collect for another 40 years after that
the numbers just wont work
Well, they COULD work if the amt of the pensions was smaller. Many people work for 40 years and fund their own retirement, with the supplement of Social Security. A pension could work like Social Security: as a supplement.
Rather than saying "pensions don't work," it's more accurate to say, "pensions don't work in the same way they did 40 years ago." They can be made to work, though. If you think they are good. I think some who say outright they don't work, just don't want them to exist at all.