Comments on: Public Employee Pension System Finally Arrived http://www.4ingrid.com/public-employee-pension-system-finally-arrived-689.html Source Of Finance Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:58:57 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Misticonus http://www.4ingrid.com/public-employee-pension-system-finally-arrived-689.html/comment-page-1#comment-562 Misticonus Sat, 13 Feb 2010 02:40:11 +0000 http://www.4ingrid.com/?p=689#comment-562 It is interesting that no mention of the state taking a holiday from payments mandated from their own private sector actuaries for over 11 years and even when it began making contributions to the public pension funds it was less then half of what was required. Now the local governments did not get off as easy as the state they only had a 6 year holiday and have not once since then made a full payment that is required. The only ones who did make their mandatory contributions to the public pension funds were the public employees. There are people who beat the system and ended up with lavish pensions, mostly politicians and some of those have lost them because of the illegal means of beefing up their public pensions. If you look at any group of public employees you will see managers, appointed politicians getting the big out of sight pensions, not the rank and file members of that employment unit. Sure Police and Firemen and women get great pensions and they have paid the highest rate of contributions for those benefits. In the last week several police and fire have been shot or injured on the job. THAT IS WHY THEIR PAY IS HIGH AND THAT IS WHY THEIR PENSIONS ARE HIGH. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE SHOT AT, OR CAUGHT IN A BURNING BUILDING? Again politicians created the part time public employee who sits on some council or board making $10,000.00 a year for 15 or 20 years then gets an appointment to some important office in the state and receives $135,000.00 a year for five years and ends up with a pension of $60,000.00 a year while a state engineer with a degree in Engineering works for the state full time for 30 years at a top salary of $80,000.00 and retires with a pension of $44,000.00 Who earned their pension? Health benefit's costs are reduced drastically when a public employee retiree reaches 65 and medicare is the primary insurer like it is for all private sector employees. Had the public employees been in a 401-K like many call for the state and local governments would be required to match or give some kind of contribution. Over the 11 year payment that the state did not make any contributions to the pension fund had it been a 401-K they would have matched the employee's contributions of 3 and 5.5 % to the tune of $12 billion. The local government for its pension contribution holiday would have matched a 401-K contribution of $7 billion. Also you can't skip 401-K employer payments the Feds won't allow it. What would have happen to your real estate taxes if the state and local governments were forced to make the proper payments in the last 15 years. Had the state and local government just matched the contributions of the employees the pension deficit of $38 billion would be reduced after investment income to about a more manageable $10-12 billion. FYI the average contribution rate of public employer to public employee is employer $2.00 to employee $1.00 (Pension and Investments January 2010). NJ public employer contribution over the last 12 years $.33 for every $1.00 contributed by public employee. M. It is interesting that no mention of the state taking a holiday from payments mandated from their own private sector actuaries for over 11 years and even when it began making contributions to the public pension funds it was less then half of what was required. Now the local governments did not get off as easy as the state they only had a 6 year holiday and have not once since then made a full payment that is required.

The only ones who did make their mandatory contributions to the public pension funds were the public employees.

There are people who beat the system and ended up with lavish pensions, mostly politicians and some of those have lost them because of the illegal means of beefing up their public pensions. If you look at any group of public employees you will see managers, appointed politicians getting the big out of sight pensions, not the rank and file members of that employment unit.

Sure Police and Firemen and women get great pensions and they have paid the highest rate of contributions for those benefits. In the last week several police and fire have been shot or injured on the job. THAT IS WHY THEIR PAY IS HIGH AND THAT IS WHY THEIR PENSIONS ARE HIGH. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE SHOT AT, OR CAUGHT IN A BURNING BUILDING?

Again politicians created the part time public employee who sits on some council or board making $10,000.00 a year for 15 or 20 years then gets an appointment to some important office in the state and receives $135,000.00 a year for five years and ends up with a pension of $60,000.00 a year while a state engineer with a degree in Engineering works for the state full time for 30 years at a top salary of $80,000.00 and retires with a pension of $44,000.00 Who earned their pension?

Health benefit’s costs are reduced drastically when a public employee retiree reaches 65 and medicare is the primary insurer like it is for all private sector employees.

Had the public employees been in a 401-K like many call for the state and local governments would be required to match or give some kind of contribution. Over the 11 year payment that the state did not make any contributions to the pension fund had it been a 401-K they would have matched the employee’s contributions of 3 and 5.5 % to the tune of $12 billion. The local government for its pension contribution holiday would have matched a 401-K contribution of $7 billion. Also you can’t skip 401-K employer payments the Feds won’t allow it. What would have happen to your real estate taxes if the state and local governments were forced to make the proper payments in the last 15 years.

Had the state and local government just matched the contributions of the employees the pension deficit of $38 billion would be reduced after investment income to about a more manageable $10-12 billion.

FYI the average contribution rate of public employer to public employee is employer $2.00 to employee $1.00 (Pension and Investments January 2010). NJ public employer contribution over the last 12 years $.33 for every $1.00 contributed by public employee.

M.

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