Some of the budget problems faced by the Granite State are not so different from those of the Garden State. This week, the Concord (NH) Monitor reported that New Hampshire’s pension system has a shortfall of $3.4 billion on an asset base of $4.7 billion. That may be peanuts by New Jersey standards, but for a small state like NH, this shortfall represents a very low funding ratio of 59%.
Most New Hampshire state and local employees contribute 5% of payroll, while police and firefighters pay 9.3%. Any shortfall to the pension system is made up by NH cities and towns which are being stressed by the early 2009 drop in the stock market.
Unlike a 401K retirement plan, in which a participating employee assumes all risk for the ups and downs of the retirement portfolio, government pensions – like those in New Jersey – guarantee pension payments: No matter what happens to the value of the portfolio, the state, school boards, and local municipalities must ante up any deficit.
When it comes to the fiscal stability of its pension obligations, New Jersey has nothing to brag about. The State Management Report Card for 2008 by the Pew Center reports that “New Jersey faces a newly revealed $58 billion tab for post-employment retirement benefits – a whopper by anyone’s standards.”
The same performance report by the Pew Center gives New Jersey an overall evaluation of C. This grade is comprehensive and includes four components: Money, People, Infrastructure, and Information. The ‘People’ measurement received a grade of B. The other performance measurements pulled a C.
Showing posts with label Pensions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pensions. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Presidential Perks: Retired, That is!
Journalist Jim Abrams reported for the Associated Press that former President George W. Bush will get a first-year pension payment of nearly $200,000, half of his presidential salary. Abrams goes on to conclude that, should Bush survive to his actuarial life expectancy of 83.5 years, he will have collected a total of $5,564, 800. Former VP, Richard Cheney, will initially get $132,000 on top of another Congressional pension of $132,451.
But wait a minute: Aren’t Bush and Cheney the same two bozos who tried to scuttle the Social Security program a few years ago and place the entire financial responsibility for retirement on the backs of retirees? And all that, while companies are failing and while even good ones are terminating pension plans!
I’m well aware that the Social Security program has spun out of control and is in need of reform. But I’m just as well aware that Bush and Cheney – together with all other elected officials inside the Beltway – are accepting secure, defined pensions for the rest of their lives at the expense of the rest of us.
Take a look at your 401K plan, if you are fortunate enough to have one: Then ask yourself where you’d be today if you were retiring in 2009 after your plan had lost about 40% of its value. If you are already retired, don’t bother to open that quarterly statement!
What bugs me is the sense of entitlement which Senators, Members of Congress, the President and Vice-President have about their perks. What right do people like multi-millionaires Nancy Pelosi, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Dick Cheney and plenty of other wealthy officials on Capitol Hill have to a federal pension?
President Barack Obama said that we will all have to make sacrifices. Don’t expect any of that from your elected officials inside the Beltway. They will publicly bemoan your financial plight and pontificate in your name at committee hearings, as they continue to feast at your expense in their private dining facilities.
If this were China, it would be the Year of the Pig.
But wait a minute: Aren’t Bush and Cheney the same two bozos who tried to scuttle the Social Security program a few years ago and place the entire financial responsibility for retirement on the backs of retirees? And all that, while companies are failing and while even good ones are terminating pension plans!
I’m well aware that the Social Security program has spun out of control and is in need of reform. But I’m just as well aware that Bush and Cheney – together with all other elected officials inside the Beltway – are accepting secure, defined pensions for the rest of their lives at the expense of the rest of us.
Take a look at your 401K plan, if you are fortunate enough to have one: Then ask yourself where you’d be today if you were retiring in 2009 after your plan had lost about 40% of its value. If you are already retired, don’t bother to open that quarterly statement!
What bugs me is the sense of entitlement which Senators, Members of Congress, the President and Vice-President have about their perks. What right do people like multi-millionaires Nancy Pelosi, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Dick Cheney and plenty of other wealthy officials on Capitol Hill have to a federal pension?
President Barack Obama said that we will all have to make sacrifices. Don’t expect any of that from your elected officials inside the Beltway. They will publicly bemoan your financial plight and pontificate in your name at committee hearings, as they continue to feast at your expense in their private dining facilities.
If this were China, it would be the Year of the Pig.
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