Steep Losses Pose Crisis for Pensions

Russ Steele

Our local government agencies have some tough decisions to make.

The financial crisis has blown a hole in the rosy forecasts of pension funds that cover teachers, police officers and other government employees, casting into doubt as never before whether these public systems will be able to keep their promises to future generations of retirees.

The upheaval on Wall Street has deluged public pension systems with losses that government officials and consultants increasingly say are insurmountable unless pension managers fundamentally rethink how they pay out benefits or make money or both.

Details in the Washington Post

Comments

[Publlic Watchdog]

RE: CalPERS Cutting Ties with MacFarlane Partners/Victor MacFarlane: Is anyone looking at the sales of properties between related entities and kickbacks relating to inflated prices paid to purchase real estate from intermediary entities owned by friendly entities owned indirectly by the Willie Brown, Victor MacFarlane, Seth Scott and others associated with them, who had just recently acquired rights to property at price much lower than what they sold it to Calpers? That stinks of an illegal kickback. This is what should be investigated. The public employees who own Calpers deserve to know the truth about how they were ripped off. This should not be covered up or quietly slipped under the rug because of the political affilliations of the people involved in the rip-off.