MORE ON THOSE UNDERFUNDED / OVER-GENEROUS PUBLIC PENSIONS:

Massachusetts cities and towns will probably face bigger payments into pension plans that cover their workers and retirees because of this year’s stock market plunge, potentially forcing communities to cut spending on police, schools, and other services. . . . Even before the market crashed, most communities didn’t have enough money set aside for pensions. Of 106 public pension funds, only three were fully funded by Jan. 1 – meaning they had sufficient assets to meet obligations to current and future retirees – according to the latest figures available. Eighty-two systems were funded below 80 percent, the level pension specialists generally consider acceptable, and seven had less than 50 percent of the money needed.

I love the next sentence, which begins: “While there is no indication that government pensions are in jeopardy . . . ” Er, except for the indications just above. This problem is widespread, and still underappreciated.

UPDATE: Reader Santiago Valenzuela writes: “So long as there remain people who the government can take money from, are they really in danger? Think of yourself as a savings account that earns interest for the government. In tough times the government just siphons a little (or a lot, or all) more off from their savings than they normally do. Since they think of citizen-subjects in that manner, what reason do they have to worry?”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Massachusetts state troopers earning over $140K a year? “Couldn’t the declining state of Massachusetts get troopers to work for a lot cheaper?”