From the Illinois Review:
Terry Savage lays out a dire scenario in the Sun-Times for those state lawmakers and Chicago city employees expecting a retirement pension. Here's a look at the dire situation for the retirement plans of state workers ranging from police to judges to university professors to members of the Illinois General Assembly. All are counting on generous state pensions, but may soon wake up to a brutal reality.
A financial war is brewing -- and it's likely to pit these public employees against Illinois taxpayers who are responsible for paying those generous pension promises. There simply isn't enough money in all these retirement plans (see below) to send out the promised checks. If you think Bernie Madoff had a Ponzi scheme going, wait until the wave of boomer retirement hits the reality of pension underfunding.
Complicating matters is the fact that the Illinois Constitution guarantees pensions to be paid before any other obligations. Savage gives the facts on how poorly these expected pensions are currently funded, just as baby boomers are heading towards retirement years:
* State Universities Retirement System (SURS): 58.5 PERCENT
* Teachers Retirement System (TRS): 56 PERCENT
* State Employees' Retirement System (SERS): 46.1 PERCENT
* Judges Retirement System (JRS): 42 PERCENT
* General Assembly Retirement System (GARS): 32 PERCENT
A financial war is brewing -- and it's likely to pit these public employees against Illinois taxpayers who are responsible for paying those generous pension promises. There simply isn't enough money in all these retirement plans (see below) to send out the promised checks. If you think Bernie Madoff had a Ponzi scheme going, wait until the wave of boomer retirement hits the reality of pension underfunding.
Complicating matters is the fact that the Illinois Constitution guarantees pensions to be paid before any other obligations. Savage gives the facts on how poorly these expected pensions are currently funded, just as baby boomers are heading towards retirement years:
* State Universities Retirement System (SURS): 58.5 PERCENT
* Teachers Retirement System (TRS): 56 PERCENT
* State Employees' Retirement System (SERS): 46.1 PERCENT
* Judges Retirement System (JRS): 42 PERCENT
* General Assembly Retirement System (GARS): 32 PERCENT
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