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    #NotAllYzermanHamilton Nolan
    7/26/16 4:18pm

    Can something really be a “crisis” if many of us have never had any hope of obtaining one to begin with, let alone ever had?

    Can there truly be a supermodel crisis? A Maserati crisis? A Charizard crisis?

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      Charityb#NotAllYzerman
      7/26/16 4:23pm

      Well, it’s a crisis for everyone in the sense that the economic impact of a pension failure — especially a government pension fund — affects even people who aren't on the pension plan.

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      Hamilton Nolan#NotAllYzerman
      7/26/16 4:24pm

      If, for example, your city shuts the libraries and the parks and lays off half the firefighters in order to pay pension costs, the pension crisis is now a crisis for you. It is a crisis we will all get to enjoy!

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    CakeisbetterthanPieHamilton Nolan
    7/26/16 4:39pm

    A contract is a contract.

    Maybe a more realistic contract would have been in order.

    I am a civil servant with a pension. I took a 26% pay cut to get it. I want what I was promised, nothing more.

    Want to see pension mismanagement?

    http://www.dailyrepublic.com/opinion/localo…

    Talk to management. They know all the spiking tricks.

    http://transparentcalifornia.com/pensions/calpe…

    None of the people on the first 500 entries are line staff. They are the ones there to keep us “greedy union scum” in-line. The foxes are running the hen house, is the problem.

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      footinmouthCakeisbetterthanPie
      7/26/16 5:18pm

      “I took a 26% pay cut to get it.”

      You got screwed...you just helped the previous pensioners...hope future ones take another massive cut to pay your pension.

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      CakeisbetterthanPiefootinmouth
      7/26/16 5:51pm

      I left the private sector and took a pay cut in exchange for the promise of a pension, regular work hours, and a workplace that didn’t include an abusive supervisor.

      The two are not related.

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    KyuzoHamilton Nolan
    7/26/16 4:25pm

    My company eliminated funding of the pension about ten years ago and increased the 401(k) match. It’s frustrating to have an existing pension balance sitting there not doing anything, but I’m thoroughly convinced that I’m better off overall.

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      ghostandgoblinKyuzo
      7/26/16 4:36pm

      You are. I think young liberals romanticize the notion of a pension. The problem is that it didn’t really work as intended and will not in the future. State governments are not going to raise taxes indefinitely to pay pensions, and as many would argue, nor should they.

      That said, 401ks are totally unproven as retirement vehicles, and early evidence is, erm, not good.

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      amtghostandgoblin
      7/26/16 4:48pm

      The trouble with 401ks and any defined contribution plans are that they have to be invested per the risk tolerance of the individual. Given that many people are highly risk adverse, this means they get stuck in things like government bonds and CDS, which pay out these days a measly 1-2%, which makes it hard for them to really save and gain over time.

      I like individual plans as I have a high risk tolerance and I have a long time horizon to invest but most people really need access to a managed pension at the end of the day.

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    gramercypoliceHamilton Nolan
    7/26/16 4:17pm

    No it's not. We'll figure something out.

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      Sobchak Securitygramercypolice
      7/26/16 4:18pm

      Yeah, let our Future Selves deal with that shit! Fuck those guys!

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      gramercypoliceSobchak Security
      7/26/16 4:24pm

      Yeah, fuck that guy!

      That’s why people have kids. So they can dump the problems they create on a new generation to solve and then die while the kids complain that the world is going to end in their lifetime. It’s how the world has always been.

      The worst thing that could ever happen would be for some nosy dipshit like Peter Thiel to find a path to immortality. Who needs all those fucking people hanging around past their use-by date?

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    RegularSyzedMikeHamilton Nolan
    7/26/16 4:45pm

    But why? I thought the stock market was reaching all-time highs and we have officially recovered from the #GreatRecession?*

    *(I know that there’s more to it than that but I don’t know enough about this stuff to figure out the “more to it” so I posted this comment to reel in someone who has more information and understanding than I.)

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      Hamilton NolanRegularSyzedMike
      7/26/16 4:52pm

      Unfortunately the bond market has been doing less good.

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      CharitybHamilton Nolan
      7/26/16 4:59pm

      And a big part of why bonds aren’t up is because the stock market has been doing relatively well.

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    Sid and FinancyHamilton Nolan
    7/26/16 4:19pm

    Compounding (apologies for the unintentional pun) the problem — on paper — is the much lower rate at which future liabilities are discounted, making them appear relatively larger in today’s dollars, exaggerating the long-term shortfall.

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      Lee Adama's Moral CenterSid and Financy
      7/26/16 4:29pm

      An important point to make, for sure. ZIRP can be accrual mistress.

      *rimshot*

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      ReburnsABurningReturnsSid and Financy
      7/26/16 4:38pm

      That’s a good point.

      If we accept that many of the eye poppingly large figures noted are a bit too harsh, I still think there are some fundamental problems.

      The target returns for many pension funds are likely going to be tough to meet going forward in a lower median growth environment, this also increases the risk that those pensions take risks they shouldn’t.

      Our demographics are about to hit an awkward several decades before evening out.

      To me those problems are compounded (har-har) by the fact that anyone who can do a little bit of basic discounting/compounding math could tell that you if we enact some solutions today it will make the pain that pensioners and current workers/taxpayers all have to feel much less painful than they will be if we wait. But we’re also probably just going to continue to wait as long as possible to ask people to actually make sacrifices because of political expediency.

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    Dave Hamilton Nolan
    7/26/16 4:23pm

    This is why your children will just quietly put you out of your misery when the time comes. Sadly, being child free I will be forced to euthanize myself when I turn 65.

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      IAmNotADamnWriterDave
      7/26/16 4:26pm

      I tried that last year and realized why I should have spawned a few offspring.

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      Dave IAmNotADamnWriter
      7/26/16 4:27pm

      I plan on a massive heroin overdose, I hear that shit is AWESOME.

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    Armageddon T. ThunderbirdHamilton Nolan
    7/26/16 4:34pm

    I’m gifted with crummy genes. All of you trying to survive your ‘golden years.’ Meanwhile, I’ll have been dead for years.

    Suckers.

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      Ed SpockArmageddon T. Thunderbird
      7/26/16 4:36pm

      Feels good to be a winner doesn’t it?

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      Armageddon T. ThunderbirdEd Spock
      7/26/16 4:39pm

      I’ll be dead in a decade (if family history is to be believed.) I’ve already won.

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    librarian11Hamilton Nolan
    7/26/16 6:03pm

    So why should I and fellow librarians retire at 65 or even 60? Though we do lots of different jobs, there is very little that is physically taxing. There’s no reason why the average retirement age shouldn’t be raised towards 70 and higher and go up as the average lifespan increases. Workers would contribute more to their own retirement and the pension crisis solves itself. The reason the social security age is 65 is because the average life span back then wasn’t much different. 65 isn’t some magic number that can’t or shouldn’t be changed as the default retirement age.

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      Nicolibrarian11
      7/27/16 12:20pm

      Surrrre, push off retirement until you’re too old and feeble to enjoy one last break constant toil. I’ve taken less than 30 days off in the past 5 years, fuck you.

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      librarian11Nico
      7/27/16 12:58pm

      Then save your money and pay for your own life. My neighbor doesn’t owe me a comfortable retirement. And I don’t owe you one.

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    Ed SpockHamilton Nolan
    7/26/16 4:29pm

    Hamilton,

    I appreciate your efforts to enlighten us on the myriad of problems we face as a society.

    But, when it comes to pensions, you really need to stop beating a dead horse.

    We get it. Pensions are fucked.

    Anyone who worked hard for their pension and believes it will be there for them in retirement, is fucked.

    Anyone entering the workforce is fucked because there is no retirement system in place.

    The fall out over this is going to fuck a lot of other people.

    Multiple stories on this issue isn’t going to change the bottom line. You really don’t need to keep shoveling dirt on our graves.

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      theunseenoneEd Spock
      7/26/16 4:38pm

      What’s a good way to save for retirement then? Just dump as much money in savings as possible and hope that’s enough?

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      amgarreEd Spock
      7/26/16 4:49pm

      Exactly. There is no fix for this that doesn’t screw someone over. Just let it be.

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