 |
Director's NoteJohn Roberts |
Happy summer!
Today is the second of July 2012 and it is in the 90’s, again. It was in the 90’s most of last week and that is supposed to continue all of this week. These are the days we wished for in January, right?
The much anticipated study of the Wisconsin Retirement System was released this morning, with no startling results, except maybe that common sense prevailed? I hope that is too cynical?
“The report released today confirms that both taxpayers and pensioners are getting a great deal with the Wisconsin Retirement System. Compared to other States, Wisconsin consistently rates among the best performing public pension systems in the country.” And the really good news is………………….. This is a quote from the Governor.
He also added that “I want to be very clear: I am currently not planning to make any substantial changes to the Wisconsin Retirement System. However I will continue to work to ensure that the WRS is fiscally sustainable for both taxpayers and retirees”. We would expect nothing less from the Governor, right? Also the report turned down the suggestions of an opt-out option in the pension program and/or a 401K provision as not in the best interest of the employees or the fund.
So the bottom line is that Wisconsin has the best managed, best structured, best funded, public retirement system in the country. I really don't know what we did to deserve this, maybe the basic fundamental “hard work will be rewarded philosophy of the people in this state”?
A couple of thoughts to take away from this:
- when you read sensationalized headlines about the cost and effectiveness of public employee pension programs please be sure to sort out Wisconsin from the rest before you get concerned. For some reason the media likes to paint all public pension programs with the same broad brush and this is not appropriate or useful. Wisconsin pension program is 99.something percent funded, none of the other programs are, and many are in the 20 percent funded range and in REAL trouble.
- Remember that a while back a Wisconsin Governor tried stealing our retirement funds and was stopped by the State Supreme court and had to pay it all back, and
- remember that our Governor as well as our friends in the legislature are all covered by the same State retirement system we are. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that were also true for our President and our Congress?
Anyway, this is very good news for a Monday morning. Enjoy your summer: don’t spend too much time in the sun, keep your pets and yourself hydrated, and please be safe and careful out there!
Cheers
