[westexas]

Detroit not alone under mountain of long-term debt
http://www.freep.com/article/20130721/NEWS06/307210073/

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')rom Baltimore to Los Angeles, and many points in between, municipalities are increasingly confronted with how to pay for these massive promises. The Pew Center for the States, in Washington, estimated states’ public pension plans across the U.S. were underfunded by a whopping $1.4 trillion in 2010.

For years, watchdog groups and public-sector analysts have warned of the threat posed by unfunded liabilities. Much like the legacy pension costs that weighed on Detroit’s automakers before the Chrysler and General Motors restructurings of 2009, the worry is that revenues can’t keep up with growing debt and that rosy predictions for market returns downplay the actual financial risk.

[Plantagenet]

Thats exactly why Detroit is so important----a number of other large US cities could be facing bankruptcy as well because of their unfunded pension obligations

[Plantagenet]

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing says Obama hasn't gotten around to giving Detroit a federal bailout yet, because he's "got so much on his plate"

Detroit hasn't gotten its federal bailout yet, because Obama has so much on his plate



Whatever happens in Detroit is going to set a template for other US cities facing huge unfunded pension liabilities. Its an important question---wlll the federal government bail out Detroit and other cities (and their pensioners) the way President Ford bailed out New York 40 years ago, and the way GM and the big banks and huge insurance companies and Wall Street investment banks were bailed out after 2008---- or in 2013 will the feds just turn their backs on the problem.

[eastbay]

They'll probably turn their backs on the problem because the damage is simply too deep and severe.

For the money Bush II and Obama wasted waging war on half the Muslim world the debts of all the broken American cities and indebted states could have been paid down to a manageable level with cash left over.

But war's much more important to these guys, Plantagenet. The impact of the fiscal decay is the result of diverting resources to guns rather than to butter. Non-Americans reading this might be confused. If so, please understand that, unlike the rest of the world, the US electorate demands and votes for leaders based on how much war they promise to deliver. It's one of the few campaign promises they make sure and deliver.

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '
')Whatever happens in Detroit is going to set a template for other US cities facing huge unfunded pension liabilities. Its an important question---wlll the federal government bail out Detroit and other cities (and their pensioners) the way President Ford bailed out New York 40 years ago, and the way GM and the big banks and huge insurance companies and Wall Street investment banks were bailed out after 2008---- or in 2013 will the feds just turn their backs on the problem.

[vision-master]

Oh I know, everyone here has done bang up job and will have money falling from the sky come age 65, problem many people are dead before age 65. Of course, those's who have notta will just ignore this post.

Study finds U.S. retirement savings alarmingly low
The average working household in the United States has virtually no retirement savings and the nation faces a savings deficit between $6.8 and $14 trillion. That’s according to a report issued Thursday, June 20, by the National Institute on Retirement Security.

Entitled The Retirement Savings Crisis: Is it Worse Than We Think?, the study found the median retirement account balance in the U.S. is $3,000 for all working-age families and $12,000 for near-retirement households. It broadly examined how American households are faring in relation to retirement savings targets recommended by some financial services firms. It uses the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances to analyze retirement plan participation, savings, and overall assets of all U.S. households age 25 to 64.

Where the report differs from similar studies is it examined not just household with retirement account assets but also those with no such plans. This is important because 45 percent— 38 million working-age households— do not have any retirement account assets.

The findings confirm that the "American Dream" of retiring comfortably after a lifetime of work will be impossible for many. Based on 401(k)–type account and IRA balances alone, some 92 percent of working households do not meet conservative retirement savings targets for their age and income. Even when counting their entire net worth, 65 percent still fall short.

The study found:
•Account ownership rates are closely correlated with income and wealth. More than 38 million working-age households (45 percent) do not own any retirement account assets, whether in an employer-sponsored 401(k) type plan or an IRA. Households that do own retirement accounts have significantly higher income and wealth—more than double the income and five times the non-retirement assets—than households that do not own a retirement account.

•The average working household has virtually no retirement savings. When all households are included— not just households with retirement accounts—the median retirement account balance is $3,000 for all working-age households and $12,000 for near-retirement households. Two-thirds of working households age 55-64 with at least one earner have retirement savings less than one times their annual income, which is far below what they will need to maintain their standard of living in retirement.

•The collective retirement savings gap among working households age 25-64 ranges from $6.8 to $14 trillion, depending on the financial measure. A large majority of households fall short of conservative retirement savings targets for their age and income based on working until age 67. Based on retirement account assets, 92 percent of working households do not meet targets. Under broader measures, most households still have insufficient assets: 90 percent fall short based on retirement account balances and estimated DB pension assets combined, 84 percent fall short based on total financial assets, and 65 percent fall short based on net worth.

•Public policy can play a critical role in putting all Americans on a path toward a secure retirement by strengthening Social Security, expanding access to low-cost, high quality retirement plans, and helping low-income workers and families save.


http://www.mnpera.org/index.asp?SEC={F6A3BE1D-B267-45D7-BC9E-B7C950737724}&Type=B_BASIC&persistdesign=#study

[vision-master]

For your info, the 'city' abolished it's 100 year old plan in 1978. No new members since 1978. Of course this means, no new funding, which means the city is libel and the pension plan became underfunded to the point of nonexistent within 7 years time. SO,,,,,,,,, the State had to bail them out to the tune of 25 million each and every year until 2030, at which time the city is on the hook.

Not Detroit - City of MPLS!

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'F')or your info, the 'city' abolished it's 100 year old plan in 1978. No new members since 1978. Of course this means, no new funding, which means the city is libel and the pension plan became underfunded to the point of nonexistent within 7 years time. SO,,,,,,,,, the State had to bail them out to the tune of 25 million each and every year until 2030, at which time the city is on the hook.

Not Detroit - City of MPLS!

[Plantagenet]

...municipalities are increasingly confronted with how to pay for these massive promises....

As examples of the results: Chicago recently saw its credit rating downgraded because of a $19-billion unfunded pension liability that the ratings service Moody’s puts closer to $36 billion. And Los Angeles could be facing a liability of more than $30 billion, by some estimates.

...any move to ease those liabilities, especially through a bankruptcy court order like what’s happening in Detroit, is being watched carefully nationwide by state and municipal officials, union leaders, bond traders and retirees.

“We’re just at the front of the line here,” Michigan Treasurer Andy Dillon said Friday. “It could be a landmark case.”

Last Monday, the bond rating house Moody’s also downgraded Cincinnati’s general obligation bonds, citing “budgetary pressure” from pension contributions. Its downgrade was to Aa2 — still a lot higher than Detroit’s Caa3 for its GO bonds — but another part of the trend.

So is the situation in Baltimore, where budget shortfalls are expected to run $745 million over 10 years, largely because of a growth in pension costs.

---Detroit Free Press

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', 'O')h I know, everyone here has done bang up job and will have money falling from the sky come age 65, problem many people are dead before age 65. Of course, those's who have notta will just ignore this post.

[Plantagenet]

Detroit retirees feel betrayed by looming large cuts to their pensions

retirees fear pension cuts

Curiously, while the pensioners all resent the proposed cuts to their pensions due to Detroit's bankruptcy, none of them seem to connect the problem to the corrupt politicians that they and their unions help put into office to run Detroit for the last 30 years.

Its human nature, I guess---they all blame the people who are working to fix things now instead of the people who lied to them and actually created all the problems in the past.

[Plantagenet]

Korean news show explains Detroit bankruptcy. ROFL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIjKA6J2eFY&feature=c4-overview&list=UU4G3lPPWm6qtoWtRk4vyGwg

[Lore]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '
')Curiously, while the pensioners all resent the proposed cuts to their pensions due to Detroit's bankruptcy, none of them seem to connect the problem to the corrupt politicians that they and their unions help put into office to run Detroit for the last 30 years.

Its human nature, I guess---they all blame the people who are working to fix things now instead of the people who lied to them and actually created all the problems in the past.

[Fishman]

Absolutely hilarious!! Now it looks like Detroit will dump as many folks as they can onto Obamacare. Bet they didn't count on that little treasure when they all voted for him.

[Plantagenet]

Polling shows most democrats favor a federal bailout of Detroit.

Dems favor bailing out Detroit

Fortunately, there doesn't seem much to be much support for bailing out Detroit in Congress and Obama also seems to want to just let Detroit go bankrupt.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', ' ')curious .... commenting on Detroit from a state like Alaska, that has been on the dole more then most places.

[Lore]

Because Alaska ranks near number one in receiving the most Federal spending per capita of net income. You take more than you give.

It's states like Michigan that support the good life you still have. While Detroit is a great example of corruption and decay from the capitalist power brokers of the last century it was also the nexus of the growth of middle class society that is being destroyed today. In which you still benefit.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lore', 'A')laska ranks near number one in receiving the most Federal spending per capita of net income. You take more than you give.

It's states like Michigan that support the good life you still have.

[Lore]

This is all pork to the state, and much of the discrepancy has to do with the straight up return on wages. The facts still remain.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '1')) Alaska
> Federal spending per capita net of income taxes: $15,197
> Total federal spending per capita: $17,762
> Federal income taxes per capita: $2,565

No state in the U.S. received more money per person from the federal government than Alaska. One contributing factor is that the state had the second-highest figure for defense spending in 2010, at $7,337.59 per capita. The federal government also allocated a great deal toward wages and salaries in Alaska — $5,709.52 per capita. This was more than any state other than Hawaii, which spent $5,805.78 per person, and twice the next-closest state within the contiguous U.S. — Virginia — at $2,638.68.

Read more: States That Get The Most Federal Money - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/special-report/201 ... l-money/3/

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'C')uriously, while the pensioners all resent the proposed cuts to their pensions due to Detroit's bankruptcy, none of them seem to connect the problem to the corrupt politicians that they and their unions help put into office to run Detroit for the last 30 years.