Retiring at age 50

Massive Surge In Municipal Bankruptcies Coming

Threat of bankruptcy is the only way to bring government wages in line with wages and benefits in the private sector. Retiring at age 50 with 90% of salary is simply obscene. It is also not affordable.


I do not even live in Florida and I am outraged by this. How can any community college president be worth $441,538, a pension benefit of $14,631 a month, on top of a lump sum benefit of $893,286? No wonder education costs are so outrageous.

Given that Florida is ground zero for the housing bust and Florida has no restrictions on filing Chapter 9, I confidently predict several cities or counties in Florida declare bankruptcy.

Ohio and Michigan are also basket cases and add a sprinkling of a few more including Jefferson County Alabama, and it's easy to come up with a total of 20 municipal bankruptcies for 2009. That is double what John Moorlach predicts.

Once the ball gets rolling and the stigma wears off, 20 can easily be wrong to the low side. These bankruptcies, should they happen, will be a good thing. Wages and benefits in the public sector need to come down, and this will be one way to see that it happens.



http://globaleconomi...nkruptcies.html

Agreed on all counts. "Crook" County, IL is the poster child for this sort of malfeasance. Layers and layers of bureaucrats, administrators, mobbed up lackeys all taking their six figure pensions and sticking it to the taxpayers. On the other hand, a friend and I have discussed how this is one of the last bastions of consumer spending. Not only do government workers know they can literally spend every dime they make during their productive years (i.e. the massive pension benefits), but they know the gravy train doesn't end once they hit retirement.

Exactly right, except that it's likely that many more municipal BKs will happen in California than Florida. The idiotic retire/rehire with full pay and full pension BS loophole will be gotten rid of here. There's very little chance that a lot of similarly ridiculous stuff and a whole lot more of even more ridiculous stuff will disappear in CA. California, as a state or as a collection of municipalities is totally out of control at both levels. At least here in Florida, the municipalities were already hit with a 10+% mandatory whack in property taxes revenues by the state in '08, so they have already gotten started on tightening their belts. My property taxes dropped 26% this year and they can't rise more than 3% per year going forward, guaranteed by amendment to the FL constitution. My property taxes are now below what I paid in 1996. An anecdotal example of the spending profligracy here is the fact that for the last two decades Miami Shores has picked up my garbage regardless of whether it was a holiday or not. This last Thursday, Christmas day, there was no pick up. Overtime is no more, at least as far as Miami Shores garbage pick-up is concerned. No more double-time for holiday pick-ups. About damned time. These local bozos have finally figured out that their budgets aren't unlimited. The obvious difference between FL and CA, what they've done in the past and what they might do in the future is that Florida's legislature has been controlled by mushy, relatively, sort-of, sometimes conservative Republicans and California's legislature has been controlled by ultra-liberal Democrats and such has been the case for many years, but I hesitate to point that out as it might be considered political. However, that's just an inescapable fact. While Florida's budget is also in deep trouble, there are no calls for higher taxes here. No one can say the same for the financial disaster that is California's $40 billion 2-year budget black hole.

Do not overlook the Federal government. A man in our firm was with Justice 25 years and retired with 60% of his 170K (100K+), plus medical and dental. He is now our specialists in federal debt assessment and he is still working since he knows his "gifts" from Uncle were really Happy Talk, But add it up for the Service Workers Union at the state and Fed levels and you will find the pay and benefits are 55% greater than the private sector.It was the indispensable "base" for elections in many states (you named a few) Nationally Congress has raped the taxpayers and is even now blowing smoke about the future implications. Own some gold, or a basket of currencies, because you may be poorer than you may know. From the other side of 70 (that would be me) this looks a pile of .... and it is all mine. Think of it! Best Islander.

Federal job benefits are 60 to 70% better than similar jobs in non-government jobs. Outrageous! But so long as people keep electing the congress we have, nothing will change.

and, boy do they use those dental/health plans. i would like to see a comp of their usage as compared to self employed. the population of public employees is spoiled and outa shape and just waiting for us to pick up the tab. self employed cant even think about the benefits of our public servants (HA). this is a huge and growing voter block, and will not be stopped until the system implodes. new royalty made and in the making.

this is a huge and growing voter block, and will not be stopped until the system implodes.

Well, we seem to have passed the point of no return. I never thought that we would see more than 50% of voters wanting a hand-out during my lifetime. I was wrong. Back around '70, I knew it was close, but I really didn't think that the voting populace was really that stupid. Back then, they weren't. Obviously, I underestimated the power of the NEA to dumb-down the populace at large over time. They have now won, at least for the moment.

Since any "hand-out" will fail, there's at least a good chance that we'll wind up going in the other direction a few years from now. If not, well, then we're screwed in the long-term and we can short everything to zero. Never mind buying bargains in that case, we'll all be dead by the time they appear.

Many government jobs are below market. Many do not have defined benefit packages. Many have medical plans on par with private companies. Even with unemployment where it is, many government agencies having difficulty filling positions.

This is going to become a big issue. Image having to pay access fees for what used to be public roads, bridges, parks etc., to private corporations just to support public pensions?

Many states are in trouble over pension promises, salaries, and out of control spending in general. Selling bridges and parks can only be done once for obvious reasons. Entire branches of government need to be eliminated. What's left needs to be privatized and where privatization is not possible, salaries need to be reduced.

Selling off assets is a onetime shot while lotteries and casinos tend to prey on the poor and net-net create no real economic benefit. The only long term viable solution to this mess is to dramatically cut public sector employment, benefits, and pensions. Until that happens, private sector workers are going to be squeezed by rising taxes, rising fees, falling wages, falling benefits, and shrinking pension plans, envious and resentful of public sector workers who make out like bandits.

A massive taxpayer revolt is up and coming over this issue. I would like to see California kick things off ... to eliminate many state funded programs, privatize the prison system, release prisoners in for minor drug violations, and slash salaries of every state legislator, the governor, and others.

Link

Florida double dipping outrage.

Baker County Sheriff Joey Dobson is getting $311,173 in a lump sum payment and will collect an annual salary of $128,000 and a monthly pension of $5,699. He said he searched for alternatives to taking December off and returning in January, but he said state retirement officials told him it was his only option.

"I have worked for 35 years, but I'm not a wealthy man,'' Dobson said. "I sure didn't want to do it, I hate to be out of the office.''

Miami Dade Community College president Eduardo Padron collected $893,286 in a lump-sum retirement benefit in 2006 and began collecting $14,631 a month in retirement pay in addition to his annual salary of $441,538.

Other double-dipping college presidents include Edwin R. Massey at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce and James R. Richburg at Northwest Florida State College.

Massey collected more than $585,000 in a lump sum last June and now collects a monthly pension of $9,823 plus his annual salary of $286,470.

Richburg, who has been in the news for his controversial dealings with House Speaker Ray Sansom, got a lump sum of $553,228 in 2007 and started collecting a monthly pension of $8,803 in addition to his $228,000 annual salary.

Edited by linrom1, 28 December 2008 - 08:49 PM.

Many government jobs are below market. Many do not have defined benefit packages. Many have medical plans on par with private companies. Even with unemployment where it is, many government agencies having difficulty filling positions.

That was'nt the situation where I worked for the government. There was a very long waiting list to get in.
I worked there only 12 years and then they "encouraged" me to retire at 57 with life time medical/dental/vision
benefits and a huge chunk in 403-B plan.

I worked my butt off in private industry before that for 23 years and have almost nothing to show for it.