Guest Post: That Which Is Unsustainable Will Go Away: Pensions
by Charles Hugh Smith
ZeroHedge.com
05/15/2012
Publicly funded pensions and Medicare are two examples of unsustainable systems that will go away in the decade ahead. Today we look at pensions, tomorrow we examine Medicare.
One of the few things we know with certainty is that which is unsustainable will go away and be replaced by another more sustainable arrangement. Whether we like it or not, or are willing to accept reality or not, unsustainable public pensions will go away.
What makes “defined benefit” pensions unsustainable? 1) Promised cash/benefits packages that are not aligned with the fiscal realities of what can be contributed annually to the pension funds 2) New Normal low yields on low-risk investments and 3) skyrocketing costs of healthcare benefits.
This is easily illustrated with basic math. Recall that defined pensions are not “pay as you go” plans like Social Security, where the taxes paid by today’s workers fund the benefits distributed to today’s retirees; “defined benefit” pensions are supposed to be paid out of a pension fund which generates returns sufficient to pay the retirees’ benefits.
The Rest…HERE
