Pension Reform Idea

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

We gotta be honest with ourselves here...state pension liabilities have gotten out of hand. Something has to be done here...at the very least so states can redirect some funding to other areas of concern..state economies like ours (CT) are incredibly hamstrung by them.

We can argue about why that is etc but thats besides the point.

Now, should pensions be honored? Yes. It is not fair to straight up say: "Sorry we can't pay you any more". People have budgeted their retirements and lifestyle based on their pensions and it would be disastrous to cut them and say no mas.

But..what I do think would be a fair solution would be to condition the full pension payment for those not yet collecting.

If you re-locate from the state you are receiving the pension from, you can only get a percentage of the full pension. Be it 50%, 75% etc.

Thoughts?

 

[Starman]

Well, we're going to have to do something. I wonder how much something like this would save.

Also, how would it be enforced? People would lie.

 

[Pressure]

Transfer the money to the individuals investment account. Switch to an employer match system for those who are over 10 years out from collecting.

Let's start there and see how the numbers move.

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

Well, we're going to have to do something. I wonder how much something like this would save.

Also, how would it be enforced? People would lie.

Have to enforce change of address for people. Can also look into car registrations.

Transfer the money to the individuals investment account. Switch to an employer match system for those who are over 10 years out from collecting.

Let's start there and see how the numbers move.

Decent. Regardless something has to be done. In CT, for example, people get very strong pensions then just move to Florida. If they want to move, fine, but as state employees they should understand that the health of the state is in jeopardy. So either A) the state would save on disbursements or B) the state economy would stand to benefit with that money still flowing into in-state businesses.

 

[Pressure]

Decent. Regardless something has to be done. In CT, for example, people get very strong pensions then just move to Florida. If they want to move, fine, but as state employees they should understand that the health of the state is in jeopardy. So either A) the state would save on disbursements or B) the state economy would stand to benefit with that money still flowing into in-state businesses.

I thought states make COL adjustments to pensions. Shouldn't that be taken into consideration already?

Can't really blame people for moving to places without income tax as they draw their retirement.

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

I thought states make COL adjustments to pensions. Shouldn't that be taken into consideration already?

Can't really blame people for moving to places without income tax as they draw their retirement.

which makes them even more expensive for the state to pay out.

i dont blame them either...so cut the pension in half if they bounce. cant let them game the system and simultaneously bankrupt the states that provided them a comfortable retirement

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

@the cac mamba

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

Connecticut continues to pay millions of dollars annually in pension benefits in excess of federal and contractual limits, a problem that’s gone unresolved for nearly a decade, state auditors reported Monday.

Auditors John Geragosian and Robert Kane also urged Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo, who oversees pension benefits for state retirees, to seek a clarifying opinion from state Attorney General William Tong.

In their analysis of the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years, auditors estimate Connecticut paid 95 retirees about $1.1 million annually in cumulative pension benefits above the annual cap set by the Internal Revenue Service, which was $210,000 per recipient, Geragosian said.

I applied to work with Lembo..to no avail

For example, the state paid a $349,443 pension in 2019 to retired University of Connecticut business professor John Veiga, according to the comptroller’s pension transparency website. And former UConn President Harry Hartley’s pension last year was $251,588.

 

[the cac mamba]

cap them, first of all. 80k, 100k, whatever, but that's it. by the time you're collecting a pension your house should be paid off, so why the fukk does the state have to pay you over 100 thousand dollars a year to be retired there's people in massachusetts making 250 thousand dollars a year on pension. thats 5 teachers' starting salaries

i wont pretend like i have the answer, but we cant even get these fukkin politicians to admit that there's a problem. in a place like connecticut i dont see any choice but cutting them off starting at X year, where everyone who was on it before gets what they were promised, but everyone who starts working after that is using a different system

NYC's pension system is 90 billion dollars in the hole and people pretend like that's a working, sustainable system

this mindset where everyone who works for the government has a god given right to a pension needs to end, its a ponzi scheme. pay people more up front, and cut the pension obligation

 

[the cac mamba]

For example, the state paid a $349,443 pension in 2019 to retired University of Connecticut business professor John Veiga, according to the comptroller’s pension transparency website

look at this shyt. the state of connecticut is taking state taxes from people making 50 grand a year so they can pay a fukking business professor a 350 thousand dollar a year pension what could this fukking college professor possibly have done to earn this or generate that revenue?

 

[Pressure]

look at this shyt. the state of connecticut is taking state taxes from people making 50 grand a year so they can pay a fukking business professor a 350 thousand dollar a year pension what could this fukking college professor possibly have done to earn this or generate that revenue?

Teach them how to make more than 50k


Obviously the peak earning formula is flawed. Maybe they should have asked him how to fix it.

 

[88m3]

Have the state start killing people soon as they hit age 30.

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

Have the state start killing people soon as they hit age 30.

is the current state pension system a problem?

 

[the cac mamba]

Teach them how to make more than 50k

hey, i don't know how myself

 

[88m3]

is the current state pension system a problem?

Compared to what?

Killing people once they outlive their shelf life ?
Large amounts of homeless old people dying in the streets?
Increased elderly people in prison?
Building state/federal facilities for large swaths of the elderly?

Social Security isn't going to cut it.

Seems like you're chasing low hanging fruit in the grand scheme of things.

I think you would find the majority of union contacts have gotten worse for workers not better over the years as well.