Michael Hohmann asks: ".....when will our public pensions be converted from defined benefit to defined contribution?"
Vicky Heller comments: Pensions are a ticking time bomb in the public and private sectors. Example: General Motors has 175,000 current employees, and 450,000 former employees collecting pensions. One doesn't need much math to see that this ratio can't continue forever. Right now, GM owes its pension fund $12.7 billion. How many former Minneapolis employees are collecting, or waiting to collect, pension benefits? A few months ago, a listmember posted that the City currently has 6,230 full time employees (before any cuts.) I would like to know how many people are either collecting now, or waiting in the wings to collect City pensions. Government entities must be required to disclose the WHOLE truth about their pension obligations - just like publicly traded companies. There are 354 companies in the Fortune 500 that report pension data. 234 of them (66%) owe money to their pension funds....for example: Exxon - $7.2 billion Ford - $2.5 billion Delphi Automotive - $2.4 billion Delta Airlines - $2.4 billion United Technologies - $2.3 billion American Airlines - $1.9 billion Pfizer - $1.3 billion Procter & Gamble - $1.1 billion Chevron, Texaco, Pharmacia, Goodyear, and Raytheon - $1 billion each What is the corresponding number for Minneapolis - and how are we going to fix the problem? Vicky Heller Cedar-Riverside and North Oaks TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
