Another Blow to Pensions

As if teaching until age 67 wasn't enough and paying an additional 3% more of your salary to your pension didn't hit your wallet hard enough, Governor Quinn has thrown one more log onto the fire.

Right now retired teachers in the TRS system get a 3% cost of living adjustment (COLA) to their yearly pension.  The new COLA plan laid out by Quinn calls for capping the cost of living at a maximum of 3% or 1/2 of the CPI, whichever is less.  So if the CPI is 2% then teachers would receive a 1% raise.  By the way, this new amount, according to the new plan, is not compounded.

Out of all of the features of the governor's new plan, this is the one I am least troubled by.  Really, if I don't get a COLA raise of 3% and, instead, receive 1 1/2% or 2% I won't cry over it.

But when you add up all of the features of the Quinn plan then you get a sense that teachers and other public employees are really taking it on the chin. 

Teaching well over 40 years to get a full pension, paying 3% more towards the pension every single year and taking a lower amount of cost of living money each year once you are retired will hit teachers hard.  These measures, collectively, are simply too punative.

Why not be more realistic?  Rather than making mandatory retirement at age 67, why not be reasonable and say that age 60 is a better time to retire.  You need more money for the TRS pension fund, why not ask for 1 1/2% increase rather than 3%.

Teachers and public employees are left filling the deep hole dug by legislators.  We don't mind doing our share to plug the hole but to be fully responsible for problems largely created by the state government just doesn't make sense.

Thanks,
Dick