what are reasonable assumptions about long term returns of pension plans?

“…the current [pension] shortfall is attributable to the recent stock market plunge…” Hmm…first of all, the S&P 500 has doubled from its March 2009 low and is now within 40 points of its all time high (1,565 on Oct. 9, 2007).  So we are past the plunge. Second, the problem of poor returns now stretches …

Time for new leadership in the House

Will, It is time to clean house. The report on the Probation Department released this week by Independent Counsel Paul F.Ware, together with the Globe Spotlight Team’s report on Rep. Thomas Petrolati published in October and the Globe’s earlier report on Probation Department Commisioner John O’Brien paint a depressingly familiar picture of how business is …

State pension obligations

Will, There was an article in Saturday’s NYT entitled “In Budget Crisis States Take Aim at Pension Costs“.  It quotes a pension expert who finds that states like Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana and New Jersey are less than 10 years from exhausting their pension funds. However, as the article says “…paying public pensions straight out of …