I been watching a kinda regional pension issue develop over the last four or five months to see how it would work itself out. The Central States Pension fund which basically means the Teamsters union for I believe Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and maybe Iowa has been going broke for some time now with the usual screaming, teeth gnashing, calls for the government to step in and accusations of broken promises....
Let me stop here though. The time for finger pointing is over, at least in my case anyway. If someone came by and told me they were going to make sure I got paid 20 or 30 times more than my job paid in other places and that I would be able to retire in my early 50's with benefits and be basically immune from being fired while working I would look at them like they were insane. If somehow then managed to get me what they promised I would take that extra cash and sink it into land, livestock and precious metals because I would just know something that good couldn't last forever.
That's just me though I guess. I used to think it was a regional Missouri "Show Me" thing I grew up with but I have always lived by that adage that if something is too good to be true it probably isn't going to be true for long.
So my new stance on this always escalating pension crisis is that I am giving people notice. Your pensions will NOT be there in a few more years. You can chose to be pissy about it or you can choose to prepare for it. Even if you continue to get a check it will continually fail to cover your expenses each month and that disparity will grow as each day passes. The government will either inflate away the expense or the fund will be cut like this one looks to be heading for.
Central States calls painful cuts only alternative to federal bailout
Trustees of the pension fund that covers mainly Teamsters union members and retirees said it needs $11 billion in new funding to make good on current and future benefits. Short of a bailout of that size from Congress, or going through with the proposed rescue plan, the fund will collapse, they said.
At this stage of the game a federal bailout is no different than the original scheme. Eventually the easy credit for governments will go away and it will be worse but I doubt the government will step in. There is no way the government is going to be able to bail out all the funds that are in trouble and sinking fast, and they know it. If they set a precedence here it will never end.
The moral to this and the theme of the future is that the only one responsible for you and your retirement is you.
Prepare accordingly....
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!!
The only pension I'm aware of in Missouri which was ever any good was the local government employees' program, which is self-funded. You pay in; your local gov't may or may not contribute, and you get back what you paid in plus the interest, and NOT A PENNY MORE. No pension-for-life. The Teamsters have always promised Shangri La & a bag of chips, and the members took it readily enough. Now the good times are over? Too bad. The taxpayers don't owe them a single cent.
ReplyDeleteRP - I am not sure the local pension plan survived the ASFCME unionization scam that went on at the end of the 90's and early 2000's. I know they tried to break into it then and turn into a run oft he mill defined benefit thing then.
DeleteNo pension here. Just going to keep having kids and hope one takes pity on me when I'm older!
ReplyDeleteKev - LOL the old fashioned way huh? Well by the time you or I make it to real retirement age as opposed to the early ones public "servants" get that will be about the only plan out there.
DeleteIt is insane in this day and age that a system like that even exists. Any sane person knows there is no way they will get anything out of a pension. It is and should be a dying system
ReplyDeleteLW - Yes it is insane. and it is a dying system the one's who have gotten theirs are making sure no one after them get's even a fraction of the good dealt hey got so there will be enough for them. It's going to get ugly.
DeleteThey aren't big donors on an individual level and certainly not members of the elite club like say goldman sacks numb skulls. These guys won't get bailed out especially if it can be blamed on George Bush or wait, now it is Trump, anyway they need to be paying off their debt and getting ready to work a while longer if they can get a job.
ReplyDeleteSf - One of the articles I read about the situation mentioned these guys were old but then in the next paragraph they mentioned one had a 4 year old daughter. Hmmmmm retired with a four year old?
DeletePP,
ReplyDeleteThere was a place and time for unions, and it isn't now.
The government isn't going to help them. They need to be looking out for themselves and their families.
Sandy - I am not so much against unions as I am the unrealistic expectations they seem to bring with them. It's self correcting in the private sector and should be obvious to those who bought into it that they should have a fall back plan.
DeleteThere's another - and, in my opinion, more likely option. Based on the pretty lies they told, and too eager to believe...the average union slob hasn't done a thing to prepare for his retirement. All he needed to do to get a raise all his life - was pick up a picket sign, join a mob of his peers, and take a holiday on the line until his employers caved. Essentially, he is merely a more malignant and intelligent parasite.
ReplyDeleteSo - when he goes for his bennies and the cupboard is bare? He and his peers will drag out their picket signs and mob their politicians. The only viable option is to rob from people that have planned for their retirements to pay for those that haven't.
Hide your assets. In the days ahead, when those morons start to starve...they will go hunting. Make sure brass and lead are among the metals you invest in. Yes, in some areas - it will get that bad. Most of them will be liberal/democrat bastions.
GF - Oh I imagine you are right eventually the government is going to come for all retirement plans claiming it is to help the old folks. It's a good idea to hide your assets like you say!!!
DeleteAmen. But then, folks want a guarantee for everything in life. The last thing I would want to do, though, is call in the government! It would be interesting to see where all that money actually went. I'm guessing most of it goes to salaries of the pension maintainers.
ReplyDeleteLeigh - Yep salaries and "fees" I am sure claims a bunch of it.
DeleteEverybody should have a plan B though I think. Nothing is guaranteed as you say.
The corporate pensions don't seem to be doing all that much better. In some cases they have been looted, but really you just can't predict future events multiple decades ahead. Any promises made on such predictions are going to be suspect.
ReplyDeleteRuss - Where you been anyway. Never see ya comment like you used to and it makes me sad :(
DeleteAgreed none of them are healthy event he 401's but at least most of those don't have the political clout to start demanding they be able to pick the tax payer's pockets.