My Blog

Tag: Pension Time-Bomb

  • Illinois’ Pension Time-Bomb Too Big Too Fix

    So says the Commercial Club of Chicago. In a memo to its members, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago said last week’s elections didn’t bring in an influx of lawmakers willing to deal with the pension crisis but instead leaves taxpayers with “more legislators who aren’t prepared, or willing, to make the…

  • Mike Madigan: Speaker King

    Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan has many advantages as he tries to extend his nearly uninterrupted three-decade control of the Illinois House. His Democrats have more campaign money. His party has home-state President Barack Obama to drive the vote. Perhaps most important, Madigan drew the district boundaries for each of the 118 House contests that will…

  • Pension’s Rate of Return Plummets to 0.76%

    This sounds like a problem: The pension fund for most public school teachers in Illinois generated just 0.76 percent in fiscal 2012, a big drop from the 23.6 percent rate of return in the previous fiscal year, the Teachers’ Retirement System reported on Thursday.  … It is the long-term results that matter and the system’s…

  • IL Finances Heading to Social Unrest

    “I think it’s going to reach a point where there’s either social disorder or bankruptcy before people will act,” he said. via Crain’s Chicago Business. Ya, that sounds about right. But let’s back-up a little.  This is a quote from a story about how back the finances are in Illinois. A Blue Ribbon Panel put…

  • Chicago’s Pension Time-Bomb

    While Emanuel can coast for two more years, the city in 2015 is required by law to set aside an additional $700 million a year for two of its four pension funds, all of which are woefully underfunded: That year’s budget will include a total of $1.2 billion for the retirement accounts of teachers, police,…

  • Illinois Need to Cut COLAs

    The head of Illinois’ largest pension plan strongly suggested that cuts in cost-of-living benefits are inevitable for more than 360,000 teachers and retirees outside of Chicago. In an interview with Crain’s editors and reporters, Richard Ingram, executive director of the underfunded Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, said state politicians will have few other options if they…

  • Illinois – Worst Financial Shape Ever

    Bloomberg L.P., the big New York financial data firm, is holding its fall municipal-financing conference on Wednesday, and guess what the title is for the special panel on the Land of Lincoln?  Try Land of Entropy.  Yes, sports fans, the panel titled “Illinois Treading Water” is set for 1:45 p.m. and, according to a synopsis,…

  • Aldermen Briefed on Pension Time-Bomb

    [Chicago’s] Chief Financial Officer Lois Scott reminded council members that absent significant changes to pension plans, the city will be forced to drastically cut services, raise taxes or do both to close a funding gap that could reach $700 million in just a few years, aldermen said.  … …  Lawmakers are looking to fix the…

  • Legislative Change Means $670 million More for Teachers’ Pensions

    The state will have to come up with another $670 million for the teacher pension system in the next budget after a retirement fund panel crunched the numbers and adjusted its assumptions. The Teachers’ Retirement System lowered what it expects from investments from 8.5 percent to 8 percent. The pension fund’s leadership also increased a…

  • Quick Pension Analysis

    Ok, so I was getting asked about this the other day both in person and in the comments about why the pensions are really in such bad shape and what the latest GASB positions mean to the funds.  GASB first. GASB Changes I did some poking around and the recent GASB changes really mean nothing.…