State Pensions

Posted by openactuary on April 14, 2011 at 11:11 pm

Hi John,

Do you have a copy of the state data spreadsheet that contains actuarial liability numbers? I plan to load those data into R and see if I could create charts to highlights some of the points you made. This is both a learning exercise for myself as well as sharing information with the public. Thanks.

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Posted by Pension Questions: Pension Transfer on October 3, 2011 at 5:56 am

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Posted by Pension Questions: State Pension Forecast on November 7, 2011 at 3:34 pm

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Posted by Anonymous on February 15, 2014 at 8:36 am

John, the one thing I wish you would clarify about health insurance for state employees is they reach 65, Medicare becomes their primary insurance and the state health insurance becomes secondary. It is a fact so it would be nice to convey it. However it does not help the states current financial state when it comes to paying for any insurance. Okay let me know what you think.

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- Posted by burypensions on February 15, 2014 at 10:01 am
  
  I think most laymen realize that but what inflates the cost in New Jersey (which has the highest OPEB costs in dollar terms of any state by some measures) is the so many retirees (especially Police & fire) retire way before 65. Also, there’s all that stuff that Medicare does not cover that taxpayers also pick up in some cases, possibly even the cost of Medicare premiums.
  
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  - Posted by Anonymous on February 15, 2014 at 8:01 pm
    
    Thanks for your quick response. Is Obama care separate from MEDICARE or will it eventually replace it? I also believe that the state does not offer free health insurance anymore to any retires who have not already accrued 25 years. From this point on there will be no free health insurance for those who work 25 years or more. Isnt that correct? I think the free health insurance is more of an issue then the pension especially in my case. I only recieve 16k per year in pension.Unfortunately I may need the COLA some day .in order to get by. I am also disabled but do not collect disability
    
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    - Posted by burypensions on February 15, 2014 at 8:16 pm
      
      I think the state put in some cost-sharing but if the COLAs come back I see the state immediately going after retiree health care since that is one thing that everyone seems to agree can be cut. Having New Jersey pay more for both pensions and retiree health care is not an option.
      
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      - Posted by Anonymous on February 15, 2014 at 9:26 pm
        
        When you say going after retiree health, what exactly does it mean and if it were so easy to do, why havent they done it before? Also the COLA is nothing compared to Health care costs per month. If were to receive COLA it would be 30 dollars more per month. Health Insurance must cost at least 800 per month,so how can the two even be compared.
        
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Posted by burypensions on February 15, 2014 at 9:49 pm

What everyone agrees on is that retiree health benefits are not protected and if COLAs come back requiring higher pension contributions then some governor or legislature will force higher copayments for it to make up for the additional COLAs which could be a significant part of a benefit eventually depending on how they’re defined. These are bottom-line people who want a predetermined outcome and fairness won’t enter into the equation.

These are

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Posted by Anonymous on February 15, 2014 at 10:00 pm

Then why didnt they make changes to the Health Benefits since they are not protected wouldnt that have made more sense and saved more money? I dont understand why they went after something that was protected:? Can you answer that for me please?

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- Posted by burypensions on February 15, 2014 at 11:05 pm
  
  They did go after health benefits in making some public employees chip in more but as far as the heath benefits themselves there are too many George Norcross-types running this state who make money off of health benefits to have them seriously challenged.
  
  As for going after COLAs it’s because (a) other states are doing it; and (b) there is an immediate reduction in liabilities (20%) which translates into a similar reduction in contributions (if all of those other phony assumptions stay the same) which is the endgame.
  
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Posted by Anonymous on February 16, 2014 at 2:52 pm

I DONT BELIEVE ANY OTHER STATE GOT RID OF COLA COMPLETELY THEY ALL REDUCED THEM. JERSEY WENT FOR THE JUGLAR

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Posted by Richard on February 23, 2014 at 12:11 pm

True police and fire retire early but it is a young or at least middle-aged person’s job. Not sure I want someone my age going mano a mano with a mugger or dragging people out of burning buildings. A limited number get promoted to admin positions or the like but the bulk are front-line people.

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Posted by Anonymous on May 26, 2014 at 11:32 am

Is there any source that has updated from more recent valuation reports? The Moody’s and Morningstar reports seem to be CAFR numbers and so often a year or more behind what there is for valuation reports and I can’t figure out what sources the public fund survey uses.

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- Posted by burypensions on May 26, 2014 at 12:39 pm
  
  I will try to get this updated this week. It’s a good time of year since most reports are out.
  
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Posted by joellfrank on August 23, 2014 at 4:48 pm

Has a schedule/agenda been issued by the NJ Pension Study Commission.

I cannot find, on the NJEA website, a single word about the Governor’s creation of the Commission. Please help locate it for me.

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- Posted by burypensions on August 23, 2014 at 8:15 pm
  
  Couldn’t find any activity so I emailed the only person I have an email for (Tom Byrne) and see if he has anything to report.
  
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Posted by State Pension Data | Burypensions Blog on July 31, 2016 at 4:47 pm

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Posted by debt on August 24, 2018 at 1:06 pm

In fact when someone doesn’t understand after that
its up to other people that they will help, so here it takes place.

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Posted by Anonymous on September 14, 2019 at 6:03 pm

N.J. has no excuse for it’s underfunded pension system. N.J. was first to have casinos and they raked in more money than most other States. What happened to this money? Well #1. gov. Whitman stopped all pension contributions, as a result the system suffered, to make it worse the other Governors, made partial payments at best.The crooked politicians had more than enough funds during these golden years, however,they screwed the people once again. Seems the States under democrat rule are the worst. What a surprise that is.

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