Comments on: Despite Gain, CalPERS Still Underfunded

By: KLynn

KLynn — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 20:05:00 +0000

Too many believe that those who work for the government are “TaxEaters” as one previously indicated. I chose public service with an average salary because it was the right thing to do. I have enjoyed a varied and challenging career filled with many unpaid overtime hours just like I would have in the private sector. I was courted by the private sector on several occasions but chose the path I followed for stability reasons and the work was interesting and fulfilling.

For years now, I have paid into my own CalPERS retirement (and I do not have any problem). My retirement will, in no way, be gold plated–very modest. I’ll be paying for my own health care too.

To upend the system on the pretense that it is filled with money grubbing government employees is wrong. It would impact the economic stability of a great segment of our population who worked hard for their pensions (a component of their employment package) despite folks who would often malign us and everything about those of us who kept government working to pick up their trash, pave their roads, ensure that the homes they lived in were structurally sound and did a myriad of other things that folks take for granted. I’ve worked long and hard and paid into the system for many years. I passed on other high paying jobs that offered short term gain vs. long term stability. Government service is not right for everyone but most of the folks I’ve had the pleasure to work with are hard working tax payers just like the majority of society–not TaxEaters.

By: Know it all

Know it all — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 05:58:16 +0000

Remember, Teachers in Cal pers do NOT get Social Security unless they worked in the public sector. So as industrial workers paid in to SS and expect to get theirs when they retire, so teachers expect to get the equivalent which is their pension. Regarding the amount, some get alot, and some don’t….it all depends on how long they worked and how much they made.

Lastly, teachers should be yelling at their union reps…..Pensions are not suppposed to be a pay as you go and instead of arguing for 2% raises, the union reps should have been arguing for 100 percent funding over th past many years…..no popular becuase there was no immediate benefit for the members.

Those are my thoughts

By: CA taxpayer

CA taxpayer — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 17:00:39 +0000

what you goverment ” workers” fail to understand is that your pension fund was stolen years ago and we ( the taxpayers) are NOT going to pay for you TAXEATERS to suck up 150k a year in pension bennies….

make no mistake taxPAYERS the taxEATERS are gonna dip into your wallets to support their ridiculous lifestyles…

By: whinenomore

whinenomore — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:16:46 +0000

I cracks me up when I read statements like:
“Strictly from the standpoint of the stock market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average would have to be at approximately 25,000 in 2020 in order for future CalPERS projections to be accurate. That would be a doubling of the stock market in the next nine years. And it would have to be at about 50,000 by 2030, a quadrupling in less than twenty years.”

No, that’s not really what this means. You’re ignoring the fact that many companies issue dividends so the effective yield is a combination of market price gains and dividend payments. So the DOW might not reach 25,000 by 2020 but could easily beat the 7.75% assumption.

By: Rex ther Wonder Dog!

Rex ther Wonder Dog! — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 07:05:12 +0000

Mr. Ebenstein is going to find out soon that the majority of CA voters are not Libertarians, and we are not going to let him, or his ilk, fool with our pensions.

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seesaw, wake up, you’re dreaming again 😉

By: Rex ther Wonder Dog!

Rex ther Wonder Dog! — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 07:04:09 +0000

To Rex the wonder dog, piglet? I worked hard for a long time for my average pension prick.

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You’re a trough feeding piglet averagetroughfeedingngdude, you didn’t even cover 5% of your pension, you and the other piglets don’t work hard either.
🙂

By: SeeSaw

SeeSaw — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 04:24:08 +0000

Mr. Ebenstein is going to find out soon that the majority of CA voters are not Libertarians, and we are not going to let him, or his ilk, fool with our pensions.

By: SeeSaw

SeeSaw — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 04:21:27 +0000

Not all CalPERS retirees receive cost-of-living adjustments, every year. The COLA is figured on a complicated formula connected to the CPI. Every retiree group, according to the length of retirement, has a separate calculation. My COLA is 2% or less–the last two years have been less. Also, the groups that should have received their first CalPERS COLAs, the past two years, have not received anything.

By: averageworkingdude

averageworkingdude — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 21:28:55 +0000

One reason of an inflated increase in CalPERS people retirering in 2009-10 is they are afraid if don’t go now the coming take aways will reduce there pentions they have to get out early or lose. This is my situation. To Rex the wonder dog, piglet? I worked hard for a long time for my average pension prick.

By: Rex ther Wonder Dog!

Rex ther Wonder Dog! — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:18:06 +0000

First, the number of CalPERS retirees each year is increasing. In 2000-01, CalPERS had 19,289 new retirees. In 2009-10 (the most recent year for which data are available), this had increased to 30,119, 56 percent more.Second, existing CalPERS retirees receive cost-of-living adjustments every year. Third, the pensions of new CalPERS retirees are significantly higher than the pensions of past retirees since salaries have increased. Fourth, retirees are living longer than ever. Fifth, fewer current employees are paying into CalPERS as a result of cuts in state and local government personnel.

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Don’t bother the trough feeding piglets with the facts.