K-12 Tax & Spending Climate: Money to burn The muddle-headed world of American public-pension accounting

The Economist:

SLOWLY but surely the cost of America's public-sector pension promises is becoming clear. Last year the best estimate of the shortfall was more than $4 trillion. To deal with its deficit, a giant Californian pension fund, CalPERS, recently announced plans that will increase contributions by employers (in effect, taxpayers) by up to a half, starting in 2015-16.
Advertisement

Final-salary pension costs have risen for decades because workers are living longer and the retirement age has barely budged. The bill was disguised in the 1980s and 1990s by good asset returns. But dismal equity markets have since forced many private providers to close final-salary schemes to new members and switch to less lavish defined-contribution plans.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at May 13, 2013 1:31 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas