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Articles for category Retirement

Legislators take on pension reform

Posted Aug 06, 2012 by    categoryRetirees categoryRetirement categoryState Employees

After a monthlong break, the Legislature returns to work at the Capitol on Monday to take on one of the Golden State's thorniest issues: public employee pensions.

The Senate and Assembly have just four weeks to vote on hundreds of bills before the two-year session concludes at the end of the month, but the main focus will be on changing the pension compensation system.

Just what those changes will entail is unclear. Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed increasing the retirement age and creating a hybrid system that includes a 401(k)-style benefit, among other things, but lawmakers have yet to approve those or anything else.
After a monthlong break, the Legislature returns to work at the Capitol on Monday to take on one of the Golden State's thorniest issues: public employee pensions.

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Consider a few things before cutting pensions

Posted Jun 20, 2012 by    categoryCalPERS categoryRetirees categoryNational Economy categoryPolitics categoryRetirement

June 20, 2012

(Reuters) - The message from voters about public pension plans is clear: They're ready to cut the retirement benefits of police, firefighters, teachers and other state and municipal workers.

The latest indicators include the failed recall of Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin - which started with his efforts to cut pensions - and referendums in San Jose and San Diego, where voters overwhelmingly backed pension reform measures.

A recent study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that 35 states have reduced pension benefits since the 2008 financial crisis, mostly for future employees. Eighteen states have reduced or eliminated cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) - and some states have even applied these changes retroactively to current retirees.

This week, the Pew Center on the States reported that states are continuing to lose ground in their efforts to cover long-term retiree obligations. In fiscal year 2010, the gap between states' assets and their obligations for retirement benefits was $1.38 trillion, up nearly 9 percent from fiscal 2009. Of that figure, $757 billion was for pensions, and $627 billion was for retiree health care.

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CalPERS OKs 9.5 percent health premium hike, but Medicare recipients are spared

Posted Jun 13, 2012 by    categoryCalPERS categoryRetirees categoryHealth Care categoryState Economy categoryRetirement

CalPERS today approved a roughly 9.5 percent increase in health insurance premiums. The pension fund's governing board voted unanimously to approve the increase, which will cost the average CalPERS member another $30 a month in premiums. The increase takes effect Jan. 1.

It represents one of the biggest increases in years for CalPERS, which covers 1.3 million public workers and retirees and is one of the largest purchasers of the health care in the nation.

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Jerry Brown moves to eliminate retiree workers

Posted Jun 13, 2012 by    categoryCalPERS categoryRetirees categoryGeneral News categoryState Economy categoryRetirement

As Friday's state budget deadline approaches, a little-noticed provision in Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal would cut off thousands of retirees who return to work for the state.

The idea targets all but the most essential of the state's so-called "retired annuitants," a group of about 5,800 workers who drew $110 million in pay from the state last year on top of their pensions.

The Democratic governor's proposal could strike a chord with taxpayers by appearing to crack down on double-dipping. It also appeals to public employee unions – which want to eliminate jobs they believe stunt the growth of the regular workforce – at the same time he's asking union workers to accept furloughs and a 5 percent pay cut.

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Backlog at California's CalPERS fund worse than before new computer system launched

Posted Apr 18, 2012 by    categoryCalPERS categoryRetirees categoryState Economy categoryRetirement

The line at CalPERS' customer service window is getting longer.

After converting to a half-billion-dollar computer system to process benefits for hundreds of thousands of California public agency retirees last September, backlogs for some services are worse than before the project launched.

The new hardware and software installed by New York-based tech firm Accenture aimed to consolidate 49 old data systems into one when it launched last September, two years late at nearly twice its original $279 million budget. The California Public Employees' Retirement System committed another $6.8 million in December, bringing the total cost to $514 million. The money has come from CalPERS assets, currently valued at $234 billion.

Meanwhile, fund members have complained that a system intended to speed up service and boost efficiency has done the opposite.

 

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Legislative panel working on ‘hybrid’ pension

Posted Apr 11, 2012 by    categoryGeneral News categoryLegislation categoryRetirement

SANTA ROSA — A two-house legislative committee is working with Gov. Brown’s Department of Finance on a ‘hybrid’ retirement plan for new state and local government hires, a committee member told a forum here last week.

Assemblyman Michael Allen, D-Santa Rosa, twice referred to a “cash balance” plan while talking about a cost-cutting hybrid, proposed by Brown, that combines a lower pension with a 401(k)-style individual investment plan.

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GAO Study Highlights Trends in Pension Reform, Challenges Nationwide

Posted Apr 04, 2012 by    categoryCalPERS categoryRetirement

A new study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office provides additional insight into the challenges facing not only California’s pension system, but also public pensions across the country.

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Group suspends California public pension reform ballot effort

Posted Feb 09, 2012 by    categoryCalPERS categoryPolitics categoryRetirement

The cause of pension reform in California took a significant body shot Wednesday when a group hoping to put an overhaul measure before voters this year suspended its campaign.

Beleaguered by fundraising problems and questions about the viability of its proposals, California Pension Reform shut down its efforts. The group's officials blamed the demise on a "false and misleading" summary of the plan by Attorney General Kamala Harris, a charge the Democrat denied.

The death of California Pension Reform's efforts also wounded Gov. Jerry Brown's pension proposals to the Democratic-controlled Legislature, one analyst said, by removing the threat of a more draconian measure going before voters.

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Study: Public, private workers' retirement wealth roughly equal

Posted Oct 06, 2011 by    categoryCalPERS categoryRetirees categoryRetirement categoryState Employees

    A new study by the Center for Retirement Research and Boston College refutes the notion that state and local government workers as a group end up a lot richer than their private sector counterparts.  [Read More...]


Half of Californians will retire in or near poverty

Posted Oct 06, 2011 by    categoryCalPERS categoryRetirees categoryState Economy categoryRetirement

    Approximately half of California workers will retire in or near poverty, according to a study published Monday by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.  [Read More...]


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