Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! As we do most weeks, we have gathered the best stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. This is the news you need to know in the fight for a secure retirement.
Here are this week’s top stories:
- Gov. McMaster wrong about pension system by Marlon Kimpson: a State Senator from South Carolina cautions against switching to a 401(k)-style system for public employees. Closing pension plans and moving to 401(k)s in other states has increased costs for those states and weakened retirement security for public employees.
- Kentucky’s public pension faces very real challenges not met by switching to 401Ks by Dorsey Ridley: a State Senator from Kentucky argues that switching to 401(k)s is not the answer to the very real problems facing Kentucky’s public pension systems. “It’s as if anti-pension ideologues are using the smoke screen of a “crisis” to get rid what they’ve long sought – the dismantling of public pensions in Kentucky. Pensions aren’t the enemy.”
- Kentucky pension crisis: Save Our Pensions group secretive but mirrors Bevin’s reform message by Tom Loftus: a reporter for the Courier-Journal shines the light on a shadowy special interest group in Kentucky. Even though the group is called “Save Our Pensions”, it is run by three conservative activists and does not appear to represent any actual public employees participating in Kentucky’s public pension plans.
- Why unfunded public pension plans amount to theft by Dick Vortmann: a former San Diego city and county pension board member disagrees with the argument that full funding of pensions is a waste of money. He says, “…those pensions were promised to and earned by the public-sector workers. They deserve to have them paid. They do not deserve to have to worry whether they will receive their checks and they certainly don’t deserve to find out their checks have been cut due to their public employer having gone bankrupt.”
- Teachers deserve our support by James Furry: a resident of Myrtle Beach, SC, writes that South Carolina must protect the pensions of public school teachers, who provide a vital service for society. “Teachers are charged with one of the most important responsibilities in our society, yet they are often used as pawns in state budget wars.”
Be sure to check back next week for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement!