Dale Dorsey, after working 33 years, is facing a 51 percent cut to his pension. He’s not facing it alone.
He’s married. Dorsey’s mother lives with them. And, having gotten a late start on a family, so do his children, one in the fourth grade and one in the eighth grade.
“This is just going to cripple my family,” said Dorsey, who was one of 750 retirees and workers who attended a town hall meeting Tuesday in Kansas City.
They came to battle massive pension cuts proposed by the Central States Pension Fund, which covers 400,000 participants, 220,000 of them retired. The fund is so short of money, it will go broke in 10 years.
A controversial 2014 law allowed the pension to propose the cuts, many of them by half or more, as a way to perhaps save the fund.
“This pension should be paid out in full until it’s gone,” said Larry Logston Jr., who said he’s among those facing a 50 percent pension cut.
Central States’ proposal would allow the retirees to work and still collect their reduced benefits. But some are no longer able to work, and the idea didn’t seem plausible to others.
“You know anybody hiring a 73-year-old mechanic?” Rod Heelan asked Feinberg. “I’m available.”
The letters from Central States show each retiree the amount of his current monthly benefit and the reduced amount under the proposal. Among 16 such letters shared with The Star, the cuts ranged from 39.9 percent to 60.7 percent.
Their average pension loss was more than $1,400 a month.
DYI Comments: Where does one begin? Politicians who over promised along with gullible rank and file union members who actually believed that a bloated pension could be maintained along with pension managers who promised out sized returns of 8% to 10% forever. This is only the tip of the iceberg there will be many more pension blowups for years to come. Eventually all pensions will be self funding with 401k type plans. 401k type planes are not without its problems as most participants (average Jane or Joe) underfund their pensions, take money out before retirement or are simply terrible at investing. There are no easy answers.
DYI
Sixteen area retirees facing cuts from the Central States Pension Fund shared their notification letters. The proposed cuts to current monthly retirement checks averaged more than $1,400 and ranged from 39.9 percent to 60.7 percent. Here is a sample.
Current check
After cut
Loss of pension
$3,000.00
$1,179.79
-60.7%
$3,200.00
$1,462.12
-54.3%
$2,964.43
$1,482.09
-50.0%
$2,492.82
$1,341.97
-46.2%
$2,523.13
$1,515.68
-39.9%
Source: Central States Pension Fund notices
Dale Dorsey, after working 33 years, is facing a 51 percent cut to his pension. He’s not facing it alone.
He’s married. Dorsey’s mother lives with them. And, having gotten a late start on a family, so do his children, one in the fourth grade and one in the eighth grade.
“This is just going to cripple my family,” said Dorsey, who was one of 750 retirees and workers who attended a town hall meeting Tuesday in Kansas City.
They came to battle massive pension cuts proposed by the Central States Pension Fund, which covers 400,000 participants, 220,000 of them retired. The fund is so short of money, it will go broke in 10 years.
A controversial 2014 law allowed the pension to propose the cuts, many of them by half or more, as a way to perhaps save the fund.
“This pension should be paid out in full until it’s gone,” said Larry Logston Jr., who said he’s among those facing a 50 percent pension cut.
Central States’ proposal would allow the retirees to work and still collect their reduced benefits. But some are no longer able to work, and the idea didn’t seem plausible to others.
“You know anybody hiring a 73-year-old mechanic?” Rod Heelan asked Feinberg. “I’m available.”
The letters from Central States show each retiree the amount of his current monthly benefit and the reduced amount under the proposal. Among 16 such letters shared with The Star, the cuts ranged from 39.9 percent to 60.7 percent.
Their average pension loss was more than $1,400 a month.
DYI Comments: Where does one begin? Politicians who over promised along with gullible rank and file union members who actually believed that a bloated pension could be maintained along with pension managers who promised out sized returns of 8% to 10% forever. This is only the tip of the iceberg there will be many more pension blowups for years to come. Eventually all pensions will be self funding with 401k type plans. 401k type planes are not without its problems as most participants (average Jane or Joe) underfund their pensions, take money out before retirement or are simply terrible at investing. There are no easy answers.
DYI
Sixteen area retirees facing cuts from the Central States Pension Fund shared their notification letters. The proposed cuts to current monthly retirement checks averaged more than $1,400 and ranged from 39.9 percent to 60.7 percent. Here is a sample.
Current check
|
After cut
|
Loss of pension
|
$3,000.00
|
$1,179.79
|
-60.7%
|
$3,200.00
|
$1,462.12
|
-54.3%
|
$2,964.43
|
$1,482.09
|
-50.0%
|
$2,492.82
|
$1,341.97
|
-46.2%
|
$2,523.13
|
$1,515.68
|
-39.9%
|
Source: Central States Pension Fund notices
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