“Shared Risk,” Shared Pain Pensions Pitched

Buy Bitcoin and hold it for 10 years. Better returns than the other financial modes of wizardry we perpetuate buy holding/buying.

New Haven's pensions are overly generous and a direct result of politicians currying votes from the union. Stop allowing people to collect pensions immediately and require payouts to begin at 62. Don't use overtime to calculate total pension or allow sick, vacation days to be turned in for credited years.

Bohica are you nuts? How will alders and city hall employees hype up the job for uninterested people like me?! Do you really want to be stuck with a bunch of passionate people for their career? Preaching annoying things like training and pride? This is New Haven! Leave me alone and let me coast my way through!

I see references to the number of years served by police officers, before they are eligible for a pension. Where this fits into negotiations, or studying problems funding the police and fire pensions, and wonder if those who will be representing the city, and police, in these discussions and negotiations, will give weight to the history of the creation of retirement for police officers at 20 years of service. When this was created and put into contract, along with work schedules for the police who stayed most of their careers in uniform, on the street, dealing directly with the public, as events are occurring, as an off set, a possible solution, to avoid examing a much larger, more expensive, and far more dangerous issue, problem pending disaster with police who had the most exposure to the day to day, on the street policing. PTSD of men and women, working everyday amongst the public, wearing the uniform, and carrying the taxpayers gun. The theory was that since officers with PTSD, who worked their entire careers on the street, or better yet, transferred or "promoted" to units that did drug gang intervention or investigation for 80 hours a week, Sexual Assault Investigation units, Child Assault units, Shooting investigation, and Homicides. The theory was that at 20 years the damages was so great they could not be healed. And were liabilities to the city, if any action by them caused litigation. This because the city cannot afford to examine the damage done by this problem, that we see manifested around this country, in many departments, with reports of innocent people being shot by police officers. A theory and attempt that should be given some appreciation, but it has not worked the way that was hoped. The PTSD of officers who have spent most of their time at work responding to the violence, then left in the street for years, where all the triggers for the PTSD strike every shift.

The city is bankrupt. Period. Full stop. But the career politicians are afraid to tell you the truth.

How do OCCUPIERS with Billions in their endowment get away with this?

Yale is a foreign entity occupying the City of New Haven because members of the Yale Corporation do not live here and do not give a damn about New Haven's pensions or New Haven as it pertains to the people of New Haven.

The Yale OCCUPATION of New Haven continues tax FREE!!!

This pension task force has been talked about for a very very long time. 2.5 years to be exact. Since Dec 2018. Not much action during that time, but lot's of feel-good proclamations from our do-nothing alders.

Task force charged with tackling New Haven's pension funding woes...

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Task-force-charged-with-tackling-New-Haven-s-13440747.php

One more thought: Alder Myers was the President of the BOA that in July 2019, so after the task force was established, led the BOA in approving the 6 year NHFD contract that has added millions to the pension deficit. At the time, the BOA approved the contract having no idea how much it would add to the City's long-term liabilities.

The entire article is about pension-retirement options but the "True Vote" poll contains none of those options, instead it has negative or ridiculous or snarky options. Plus this identical poll was already posted on a different article about the city's pension troubles. please post a different version of this poll with realistic alternative suggestions and solutions.

"• Hiking the state income tax on Connecticut's wealthiest taxpayers to help cover the cost of fully funding pensions."
Whether it's a Dem or a Rep in the Governor's office, the outcome is the same: they protect their wealthy donors.

This is why we need a truly representative government and not one composed of millionaires and billionaires.

Great presentation to read and seems of sound reasoning.

Salaries working for the City are comparable to those of us working for private employers. We must pay for our own retirement up to 100%. We must plan ahead.

It is not right or just that we also must pay City employee's retirement. City pensions once made sense when City salaries were significantly lower that those in the private sector. City pensions no longer make sense. It's time to end City pensions.

How To Increase the Power of Pensions in 3 Easy Steps

If Americans had a national healthcare system and didn't have to worry about going bankrupt because of illness during their lifetime, this would increase the power of pensions.

If Americans did not have to worry about funding college tuition in State schools (including grammar, high school & college), this would increase the power of their pension because they would not have to pay for this basic right to education for their children.

If all Americans did not have to worry about having a pension even if they were unemployed for most of their adult life or their employer did not provide it, and pensions came from a 3% tax on publicly owned corporations, then the City of New Haven would not have this problem.

Imagine life without capitalism. It's killing us.

@wesunidad: I would add: if Social Security actually paid a living wage, pensions would not be the sole way to have income during retirement. A universal basic income could also be a supplement. Increases in SS have NOT kept pace with inflation.
Women are particularly disadvantaged by not being credited for years as homemakers or care takers. Many women work part-time because quality, affordable child care - something the government eagerly provided during WWII so Rosie the Riveter could build ships and airplanes - is unavailable. Remember when Nixon paid tribute to "single moms" and the said he would not approve money for child care centers? It happened.
We remain the single major Western country without a National Policy on the Family.
But we can invade Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan and bomb Syrians civilians without thought to the cost.
Biden only cut the military budget by a fraction of what the Trump administration voted to increase.
As long as our tax dollars are diverted to the "merchants of death", which includes those unnecessary nuclear subs out of New London, basic human needs will be unmet.
But keep voting for the duopoly and believing you can save Tinkerbell by clapping. It's a fantasy.
The largest group of voters -----are those who DON"T vote!
The next largest group are Unaffiliated or Independent - which includes us Greens, as well as Libertarians, etc.
So a minority controls public perception, with the aid of corporate media, that there are only 2 choices.
Nothing lasts forever.

Patricia Kane...so many profound points that you make and one we often forget about - that women who have worked in the home as a necessity never receive a salary, a pension or SSI for their decades of labor.

I agree that a basic income (as they have in Germany) with universal healthcare is desperately needed in the U.S.

I'd like to add that women who have handicapped children often have double the amount of work, energy and time than a woman working at home raising normal children. I say that because I lived it.

As the mother of a handicapped child you have to fight for almost every benefit you need, and if you're lucky and live long enough you have to fight for that child's care for decades after your normal children have left the nest.

I find comparing life in other countries with ours useful in order to get a world view of where we stand in regard to human development in the U.S. among other things.

I like to use the Human Development Indicator report at hdr.undp.org.

For example, what is the life expectancy in these countries compared to the U.S. in 2020?

Israel - 83.0
France - 82.7
U.S. - 78.9
Cuba - 78.8
China - 76.9

All of these countries except the U.S. have national healthcare, and in Israel as I understand it, you pay as much as you are able to pay.

As you point out, the U.S. continues to bankrupt itself with having to pay for never ending wars. Capitalism loves our military industry because the profits are immense and, of course, we sell weapons to countries throughout the world.

U.S. capitalism and it's need for profits is the driver of our demise OR the facilitator of our transition to a humane system that takes everyone's needs into account.

I think at some point the system is going to tip over because there are far too many at the bottom who have so much need.

When and if that will happen is everyone's guess.

wesunidad and Patricia Kane- I agree with your statements. I have relatives in Sweden and Canada who enjoy way many more social support programs than we do here in the USA. I have family and friends who lived in France, and they have social support programs that were not universally available here. If America is the greatest country why don't we have all the incredible social services, social supports, educational resources, disability resources, elder care resources, retirement resources, housing supports, and other social good welfare programs here?

@Heather C: I always appreciate your thoughtful commentaries.

Why does Walker-Myers suggestion that more meetings are necessary to solve the pension situation make me feel like this is a stall?
Hamlin is an expert. He has made recommendations.
Delay means no resolution and no action.
Elicker needs to take the lead and make HIS recommendations.
And KDW can do the same.
Let's get everyone on the record.

This looks at a problem that wouldn't exist if politicians did their jobs properly. The current city budget indicates income of $309 million from property taxes. About 60% of the city's property is tax exempt. This means that the city should be getting $180 million in PILOT payments from the state this year alone. Over a twenty year period this adds up to a $3.6 billion hole in the city's finances. If that money had been paid not only would there be no pension deficit, the city would have had much better services too. The larger cities have the health and educational establishments that serve the entire state, but the smaller rural towns, who use these facilities get a free ride as they don't pay for their tax breaks. This problem needs to be solved. Elicker has made a start by getting $60 million more this year, but it is nowhere near enough. There's no point in trying to squeeze a few million out of Yale. It won't be enough. New Haven's problems will not be solved until it gets it's PILOT payments made in full. Maybe Yale can help in achieving that objective. And yes, the discount rate of the pension funds needs to be reduced to something in the 4% to 5% range. At the end of their working lives city employees should not be cheated out of the pensions they had been promised.

Heather C. I'm reading a new amazing book called "The Sum of US" - What Racism Costs Everyone and How We can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee.

You must have already read the book because the very first sentence in her Introduction is "Why can't we have nice things?"

What she is referring to are the things that you mentioned in your recent post.

Patricia Kane I'm not sure what NH GP page is or how to find it?
wesunidad- thank you for the book recommendation. I'm always interested in new books to read.

@Heather C: Wes an I look forward to meeting you. https://www.facebook.com/NewHavenGreenParty

Patricia Kane- unfortunately I don't do Facebook or social media platforms.
Perhaps Paul at NHI can pass along your email address to me or my email address to you?
Looking forward to connecting.