Infinite Unknown

Fla. pension fund loses a quarter of its value but officials say no need to panic

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s public employee pension plan has lost more than a quarter of its peak value, but Gov. Charlie Crist and other officials Monday said the fund is built for the long haul and there’s no need to panic.

They said Florida has fared no worse than most big investors — a bit better than some major Wall Street indicators — due to slumps in the stock market, real estate and other segments of the national and world economies.

The fund, which covers state and local government employees including teachers, lost $37.9 billion — 27 percent — over 13 months through Oct. 31, said Dennis MacKee, spokesman for the State Board of Administration. That dropped its value to $100.5 billion.

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Tags: Economy, Florida, pension, retirement, U.S.

Elderly customers shop in a grocery store in Tokyo, Aug. 12, 2005. Photographer: Haruyoshi Yamaguchi/Bloomberg News

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) — More senior citizens are picking pockets and shoplifting in Japan to cope with cuts in government welfare spending and rising health-care costs in a fast-ageing society.

Criminal offences by people 65 or older doubled to 48,605 in the five years to 2008, the most since police began compiling national statistics in 1978, a Ministry of Justice report said.

Theft is the most common crime of senior citizens, many of whom face declining health, low incomes and a sense of isolation, the report said. Elderly crime may increase in parallel with poverty rates as Japan enters another recession and the budget deficit makes it harder for the government to provide a safety net for people on the fringes of society.

“The elderly are turning to shoplifting as an increasing number of them lack assets and children to depend on,” Masahiro Yamada, a sociology professor at Chuo University in Tokyo and an author of books on income disparity in Japan, said in an interview yesterday. “We won’t see the decline of elderly crimes as long as the income gap continues to rise.”

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Tags: Crimes, Economy, Japan, retirement, Shoplifting, Society

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) — Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund, the city’s compulsory retirement savings plan, may be headed for its largest annual loss since inception after declining 15 percent between April and September.

Net asset values of MPF dropped to HK$223.8 billion ($28.9 billion) at the end of September, from HK$248.2 billion in April, according to the latest statistics posted on the Web site of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority Oct. 31. The fund covers more than two-thirds of the 3.5 million employees and self-employed workers in the city.

Hong Kong, which doesn’t have a universal government pension plan like the Social Security in the U.S., started MPF in December 2000 to provide a basic safety net for the city’s elderly, as the portion of people over 65 is projected to more than double to 27 percent of the population by 2033 over 2004.

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Tags: China, Economy, Hong Kong, retirement

Public pension funds in US states are facing their worst year of losses in history, exacerbating existing funding shortfalls and putting pressure on state governments to shore them up.

In the nine months to the end of September, the average state pension fund lost 14.8 per cent, according to Northern Trust, a fund company. The loss has grown since, as financial markets slumped further in October. The previous highest loss for state funds was 7.9 per cent for the full year in 2002.

California’s Calpers, the US’s biggest pension fund, last week reported a loss of 20 per cent of its assets, or more than $40bn, between July 1 and October 20 this year.

State and local pension funds comprise a patchwork of 2,700 funds that manage $1,400bn on behalf of 21m employees, including teachers, firefighters and other municipal workers.

About 40 per cent are underfunded, meaning that they would not be able to pay the future pensions that employees have been promised. State governments have lifted pension benefits - a move that is politically popular - but have often failed to put in more money to pay for them.

Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago, this year convened a taskforce to address the shortfalls in Illinois funds. For example, funding for the Police Fund has fallen to less than 50 per cent.

A Chicago police officer told the Financial Times: “We are risking our lives here every day, but we have no idea if the pension we have been guaranteed will be there when we retire.” The officer called on the city to start contributing more to the fund.

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Tags: Economy, Government, pension, Politics, retirement, U.S.

WASHINGTON - Americans’ retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months - about 20 percent of their value - Congress’ top budget analyst estimated Tuesday as lawmakers began investigating how turmoil in the financial industry is whittling away workers’ nest eggs.

The upheaval that has engulfed financial firms and sent the stock market plummeting is also devastating people’s savings, forcing families to hold off on major purchases and even delay retirement, Peter Orszag, the head of the Congressional Budget Office, told the House Education and Labor Committee.

As Congress investigates the causes and effects of the meltdown, the panel pressed economists and other analysts on how the housing, credit and other financial troubles have battered pensions and other retirement funds, which are among the most common forms of savings in the United States.

“Unlike Wall Street executives, America’s families don’t have a golden parachute to fall back on,” said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the panel chairman. “It’s clear that their retirement security may be one of the greatest casualties of this financial crisis.”

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Tags: Congress, Economy, Government, retirement, Stock Market, U.S., Wall Street

Britain’s workforce should keep working until they are no longer physically able to do so, according to former cabinet minister David Blunkett.

In a speech to the Counsel and Care charity in London, he said people should stop assuming that the Government had “prime responsibility” for supporting them through “the ever increasing years of retirement”.

The former Work and Pensions Secretary said people should be prepared to use equity release schemes to pay for their care in retirement, rather than protecting the value of their inheritances to their families.

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Tags: Economy, Government, Politics, retirement, U.K.

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review.

Does the liberal-left have a clue? I sometimes think not.

In his book, “What’s the Matter With Kansas?,” Thomas Frank made the excellent point that the Karl Rove Republicans take advantage of ordinary’s people’s frustrations and resentments to lead them into voting against their best interest.

Frank’s new book, “The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule,” lacks the insight that distinguished his previous book. Why does Frank think that conservatives or liberals rule?

Neither rule. America is ruled by organized interest groups with money to elect candidates who serve their interests. Frank’s book does not even mention the Israel Lobby, which bleeds Americans for the sake of Israeli territorial expansion. Check the index. Israel is not there.

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Tags: AIPAC, Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaida, Bill Clinton, Bush administration, China, civil liberties, Democrats, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Government, Impeachment, Israel, Nancy Pelosi, Neoconservatives, New World Order, nuclear, nuclear war, Nuclear weapons, Police State, Republicans, retirement, Ronald Reagan, Russia, Social Security, Taliban, U.S., Zionism

· Up to 34% rise as last two big suppliers get into line
· Government urged to act as more face fuel poverty

Photograph: Steve Taylor/Getty Images

This summer’s misery for energy consumers reached a climax yesterday when the last two of the big six suppliers raised prices for millions of household customers.

ScottishPower, which has just over 5 million customers, said gas bills would rise by 34% from the beginning of next month, and electricity by 9%. Npower said it was putting up gas prices by 26% and electricity by 14% for its 6.6 million customers with immediate effect.

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Tags: consumer, corporations, Economy, electricity, energy, energy costs, Gas, Gas prices, Government, pension, Politics, retirement, U.K.

We already know about the lies orchestrated by the White House to justify the invasion of Iraq . But there is a bigger secret that has not yet hit the mainstream media. And it probably never will until it’s too late. Those of you who read my book already know about it because I discuss it at length. For those of you who haven’t had a chance to read America’s Financial Apocalypse , I’m going to expose this secret now. Continue reading »

Tags: Bush administration, Congress, Dollar, Fed, Federal Reserve, GDP, George Bush, Government, insurance, Iraq, Medicare, retirement, Social Security, Taxes, taxpayers, Treasury, U.S., Wall Street, White House

Matt Jackson of the Meals On Wheels program waits to deliver a meal to a home in Charleston, W.Va. The program is losing volunteer drivers nationwide because of rising gas prices.

Bankruptcies soar as retirees, agencies struggle to keep up with rising costs

Bob Emily put in an honest day’s labor every day of his life.

“I worked for the railroad, for the town marshal, security, bars, Sealy down here, UPS,” said Emily, 82, of Commerce City, Colo. “Worked hard all my life until I got sick.”

Then the bills started piling up.

“Hospital bills built up,” said Emily, who didn’t have health insurance. “I had to get loans to take care of my bills. Then I was getting behind on the loans.”

Every day, more calls and letters would come in from creditors and collectors. “I just got tired of it,” Emily said, so three months ago, he filed for bankruptcy.

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Tags: bankruptcy, Economy, Food Prices, Government, health insurance, Labor Department, retirement, U.S.