Day: September 27, 2013

The “average” public sector pensions numbers every Illinoisan should read

September 27, 2013 5 Comments

September 27, 2013 You’ve been lied to. Pension supporters and public employee unions have long gotten away with claiming average pension payments are in the thirty to forty thousand dollar range. That was dishonest.  Those averages include pensioners who worked part of their careers in jobs not covered by the pension, part time workers and early retirees.  Those retirees have additional retirement income from other sources. The relevant averages are for people who work a full thirty years in a job covered by the pension system. They are excessive.  Keep in mind as you look at these that the mean

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Where it really matters, Chicago’s unfunded pension liability per household is a whopping $900,000 – WP Original

September 27, 2013 1 Comment

  September 27, 2013 If you follow the pension crisis you’re probably especially alarmed by the per-person estimates of unfunded pension liabilities.  What’s overlooked, however, is that most Chicagoans can’t contribute meaningfully to paying down that debt, so the true numbers for those who would have to pay are far, far higher. Per capita income in Chicago is only $28,000, or about $48,000 per household. Almost half of Chicagoans are in or near official poverty. Will they be asked to pay up? Could they if they were asked?  No, so let’s look at per capita obligations where they really apply

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