WP: Pensions Face ($278 billion) Asset Gap ($18 billion in l999)

[DeepModem Mom]

Pensions Face Huge Asset Gap
Plans Underfunded by Hundreds of Billions
By Albert B. Crenshaw
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 18, 2004; Page E01


More than 1,000 large private pension plans, many in the airline and steel industries, were underfunded by an aggregate of $278.6 billion at the end of last year, the government's pension insurance agency said yesterday.

The figures are actually a slight improvement over the situation at the end of 2002, when underfunding stood at $305.9 billion. But they stand in sharp contrast to 1999, when 166 plans were underfunded by a total of $18.4 billion.

The underfunded plans had $641.8 billion in assets to cover $920.3 billion in liabilities, for an average funded ratio of less than 70 percent.

The airline and steel industries are major areas of underfunding, as they have been for some years, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. said. The names of specific companies are protected from public disclosure by law, but the agency is allowed to give aggregate figures for industry sectors...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50750-2004Jun17.html

[Mike Niendorff]

1. tick tick tick ...

nothing to see here.
all is well.
god bless America.
move along.


MDN

[SoCalDem]

2. Now, are people still wondering where the "glut" of money

has been coming from???

That pension ppiggy bank has been raided for YEARS.. That's BOOMER money, folks.. We have been had once again..

[SharonAnn]

8. You've got it!. They've stolen our pensions and now plan to steal

our Social Security.

We worked for both, we earned them, they're ours, and the corporations and the wealthy have stolen them.

Congress helped by passing laws that allowed companies to take money from pension funds that were "overfunded" and allowed taking the fund down to 80% funding. Anything over that could be removed and, of course, was removed (taken).

Therefor, pensions funds would always be either minimum funded or underfunded.

Congress just past laws allowing companies whose pension plans are under 80% of funding to delay payments to the plan to get them up to 80%.

You just can't trust Republicans with your money!

[JPJones]

3. How to f* up your country in only 3 years

The CEO's pensions are safe, and the religious wackos think they'll be raptured before retirement. Your base is covered.

[The Zanti Regent]

4. But Paul and Jan Crouch say that Jesus is coming in a week or 2!

Who cares about Pensions when Republicans have their eyes on Jesus?

[Bandit]

5. I hope Demo Tex has his bases covered

This is some scary shit. A lot of really good people are gunna get hurt badly. Thanks all you greedy Republicans. The extremely wealthy are getting the goods while regular Americans are getting the shaft. Be proud Republicans you are destroying many more lives.

[gratuitous]

6. And you know how my local paper spun this?

That's right, because the shortfall is slightly less though no less appalling than it was in 2002, the situation is getting better! "Yes, you're still bleeding to death, sir, but at a slower rate. Isn't that nice? Sir? Sir?"

Tell me again how privatizing social security will result in a huge bonanza for retirees? The funds WILL be raided; people WILL be suckered; money WILL be stolen, misappropriated, or redirected; and people WILL be facing the prospect of a penniless retirement. What are we going to do for those people? "Sorry, you fucked up. Go starve (quietly) in the street."

[havocmom]

7. That e'splains why there is no move to fix health care neglect in the US

They do not plan on us living into old age. If they make health care impossible for the young and middle aged, there won't be any old people to worry about.

Neocons in Congress to their coporate puppetmasters:
Sure, raid the pension funds so your quarterly reports look good and you can sucker more small investors into sinking their nest eggs with you just before you sell off your own shares and then declare corporate bankruptcy. We'll make sure those little people don't live long enough to bother you!