While the basic structure of the pension system is economically sound, and the fact that the federal social security system has been underfunded is no reason to punish current Masschusetts employees, there are many pension anomalies that annoy taxpayers and merit fixing.
Private sector pension crisis
Problems in the public sector system mirror problems in the social security system.
Social Security in MA — statistics
The average social security retirement in Massachusetts in December 2005 was just over $12,000 per year.
Limits on “double-dipping”
The Windfall Elimination Provision is designed to prevent higher earning state and local pensioners from being treated as low income earners for the purpose of computing social security benefits.
Employee compensation — which is higher, public or private?
State and local government employees — on average — receive materially higher total compensation than private sector employees. Of course, public employees include many highly skilled categories of workers.
Status of local issues in the Alewife area
Summary of a meeting that occurred at the State House (September 25) regarding the status of Department of Conservation and Recreation issues in the Alewife area.