Thanks.
I think the "guaranteed" rate is indeed gauranteed, now that I can get some actual better reading, although the link you gave didn't give a source solid enough to confirm it, it seems measured and careful enough that I can safely assume they are accurate in the use of that word.
That said:
Average 42 year rate of return on their invested assets:
10.32%
pg 14, data table
http://www.oregon.gov/pers/docs/gene...bers9-2012.pdf
If your long term average is 2.3% higher than the guaranteed rate of increase, that would not seem to be a long term problem.
THAT said, the business plan's proposals are spot on. They all need to be enacted, IMO.
Thanks again for giving me enough good information for me to get there, and apologies for me getting a bit huffy.
When considering this, the big ticket item that should be focused on is the UAL, or Unfunded Actuarial Liability. That is the bottom-line current year shortfall, and it determines how much the public will have to pony up, through their cities and state taxes.
In this case, the beneficiaries need to bear a bit more of the burden than they are currently required to, and that is more than reasonable.
Lastly:
The benefits aren't quite as generous as have been portrayed here. The annuities seem to be based on average working salary, which includes a lot of years of entry-level and time-eroded pay.
See page 7 of the above linked pdf.
It isn't the last year high salary on which your annuity is based. The average annuity pays out 74% (currently) of that last years pay. So the 53,000/yr employee generally would get 74% of that. Further, the plan projects that to fall down to the target of 50% over time Still further, newer employees hired after 2003 are already bearing more of the cost and market risk.
Reform is needed, but it isn't as bad as some might think. Needs improvement, but not terminal, IMO.

Reply With Quote

