Teacher retirement $11 billion short

[clem_c_rock]

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/032505/sta_032505098.shtml

My dad's retiring next year as a teacher of 37 years.

I don't think I want to send him this.

<snippit>
AUSTIN (AP) - Texas' pension fund for teachers is $11 billion short of what it needs to pay the benefits promised to the state's educators, according to a report released Thursday.

The $91.4 billion pension fund is the 12th-largest in the world and pays retirement benefits and health care for nearly 1.2 million retired and active teachers.
</snippit>

[LynneSin]

1. Who was that governor they had back iin the late 90's

yeah - I'm thinking HE knows where that money is!!

[ananda]

2. Ouch!

OMG, I'll never get to retire!

Sue

[Love Bug]

3. How much you wanna bet they invested in Enron?

I read a lot of pension funds lost money from investing too much in the stock market, so when it went bust in '01 they became under-funded.

[clem_c_rock]

7. I hope this doesn't apply in Colorado

That's where my Pop's is from.

eek

[whistle]

4. Have right-wingers been looting the teacher's fund also

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. This is one of the big reasons

BushCo is so desperate to rob Social Security and put all that money in the stock market. They need to prop up all these pension funds.

[bookman]

6. Latest "Whipping Boy" - Teachers

Pension shortfalls are in many states. Those in NJ were under attack as "entitlements". This money was put into those "trust funds" and now some politicians see it as a "problem" while it is indeed the result of their borrowing over the years

[reality based]

8. Both Democrats and Republicans in Texas have joined in looting

the Texas Teacher Retirement System over the years. The state has appropriated less than the statute requires for many years. When Bush first ran for Governor he promised to support returning the state's contributions to the higher rates but promptly ignored that promise when he took office. In addition stock market losses since 2000 have hurt the funding of almost all pension systems. The pension system's actuary has stated that the funding of the system could be satisfactorily restored if the legislature returns the state's annual appropriated contribution from 6% to 7.3% of payroll. The rate set in the general statute is still 8%, I believe. Why haven't the teacher advocacy organizations raised legal and political objections? Unfortunately these organizations have been quite ineffective. Part of the reason is that Texas politicians perfected techniques of intimidation that Bush has even tried to take to Washington. Your father's pension is safe but there is a chance that future retiree benefits will be reduced (and he can forget getting the post retirement increases that had become a regular feature for TRST retirees during the 80s and 90s). By the way the $11 billion dollar figure is not a current shortage but a theoretical shortfall in projected future "actuarial" assets and liabilities based upon a number of assumptions. Democrats in Texas should do a better job defending teachers.