The Burden of Pensions on States…

από Σταύρο Κυριαζή

1. Στο Wisconsin κάποιοι που αποκαλούμε επιτιμητικά ως «Αμερικανάκια», έχουν ξεσηκωθεί για κάποια ζητήματα, που στην ουσία αποτελούν «πταίσματα» σε σχέση με όσα συμβαίνουν στην Ευρώπη… «

…Wisconsin’s pension plan allows people to retire at 57 with a full pension, as long as they have 30 years of service. Police officers and firefighters can retire at 53, with 25 years of service…».

2. Και εδώ, ο πραγματικός λόγος για τον οποίο οι νομοθέτες στις Πολιτείες που κυβερνούν οι Ρεπουμπλικάνοι στις ΗΠΑ, «καίγονται»… Τα ποσοστά αναπλήρωσης φταίνε…

Wisconsin turned out to have the eighth-richest pensions of any state, replacing on average 57 percent of a worker’s pay in retirement. But the most generous state by far is Colorado — even though it has granted collective bargaining to only a fourth of its public work force. In Wisconsin, roughly half are covered, according to Unionstats.com, a database that uses Census data to track union membership.

Colorado offers pensions that replace 90 percent of salary, with generous annual compounding that more than keeps up with the current rate of inflation. (The state has tried to reduce this compounding; retirees have sued.) Colorado’s pensions are unusually rich because its public workers are not permitted to participate in Social Security — the state pension is the only one they get. The second-richest state is New York, which replaces 77 percent of a worker’s income, even though New York’s public work force earns Social Security benefits as well. A New Yorker’s public pension benefit, combined with Social Security, replaces more than 100 percent of his pay, Mr. Schieber found.That might appear to be the fruits of collective bargaining, since New York State grants that right to more of its public work force than any other state. But the third most generous state is Georgia, replacing 68 percent of a retiree’s former paycheck on average. And Georgia is a right-to-work state with one of the lowest rates of collective bargaining in America, just 14 percent of its public work force.

Διαβάστε περισσότερα…

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/business/11pension.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha25