Pension Solutions
Illinoisans are suffering under the nation’s worst pension crisis. Wirepoints has a plan to help fix that.
$110,000. That’s what every Illinois household is on the hook for in future taxes to pay down state and local pension debts.
It’s a crushing amount Illinoisans can’t afford. No other state burdens its residents like Illinois does. We’re the nation’s extreme outlier.
The reality is, there’s no fixing this state without reducing that $110,000 burden.
Everyone is losing under Illinois’ pension crisis
Ordinary Illinoisans are stuck paying the nation’s 2nd-highest property tax burdens.
Pensioners are watching as their retirement security collapses.
New government workers are paying into pension funds that may never pay them back.
Illinois’ most vulnerable residents are losing access to vital services squeezed out by pension costs.
No matter how you measure it, Illinois is the nation’s extreme outlier.
Extreme Outlier: Illinois has the nation’s most pension debt
Illinoisans are burdened with more retirement debts than residents in any other state in the country.
The $313 billion shortfall in Illinois’ five state-run pension funds is the nation’s most – far bigger than that of its neighbors and other big states.
Pensions costs are depriving Illinoisans of core services. A quarter of the state’s budget is devoured by pensions – the most in the nation.
Extreme Outlier: Illinois has the nation’s most pension debt
Illinoisans are burdened with more retirement debts than residents in any other state in the country.
Nation’s worst-funded ratio
Extreme Outlier: Illinois has the nation’s lowest credit rating
Illinois has the nation’s worst credit rating, by far. Today, the state’s rating is just two notches away from junk-status.
No state has ever been rated junk before.
Illinois’ credit rating has collapsed in large part due to the state’s pension crisis.
The nation’s big three rating agencies downgraded Illinois more than 20 times during the last decade, each time warning about the state’s worsening pension debt.
Extreme Outlier: Illinois has lost more people than any state except for West Virginia
Living in Illinois is no longer worth it for many residents. It’s become too expensive, there aren’t enough good jobs, and people have lost trust in their governments.
It’s why Illinoisans are fleeing to other states in record numbers.
And its why Illinois was one of only three states to actually lose population over the last decade.
The pension crisis is a key driver of Illinois’ dysfunction.
Illinoisans need a pension solution that protects government worker retirement security and makes this state more affordable for everyone.
Wirepoints’ pension solution
Learn the basics of how Illinois got into this mess:
For a deep dive into the details, read Wirepoints’ comprehensive plan: Solving Illinois’ Pension Problem: Why It’s Legal, Why It’s Necessary, and What It Looks Like.