DEFINED BENEFIT PENSIONS CAN DO MORE WITH LESS

DB pensions can provide the same benefit as a defined contribution plan at about half the cost.

SWITCHING FROM DB PENSIONS TO DC PLANS INCREASES TAXPAYER COSTS, AND DOES NOT REDUCE OR ELIMINATE ANY UNFUNDED PENSION LIABILITIES.

More Americans are leaving the workforce without pensions, with inadequate 401(k) balances and relying more on Social Security. Americans also face increasing costs for food, utilities, prescription drugs and healthcare costs. For many, then numbers just don’t add up.

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Brexit — Implications for Ireland

Breakfast Seminar with the Irish Consulate of Chicago:

Ireland is the EU country that stands to be most seriously affected by the UK’s exit from the EU. While fully committed to remaining an EU member, Ireland is determined to retain the strongest possible relationship with its nearest neighbor. How will Ireland protect its interests in the exit negotiations launched in March? What are the implications for trade and investment in Ireland? And how will the relationship, political and economic, with Northern Ireland be affected? Join Ireland’s Consul General to the Midwest, Brian O’Brien, and Vice-Consul Ragnar Almqvist to discuss what Ireland’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister) has described as ‘the greatest economic and social challenge’ his country has faced in the last half century.

Ireland’s Consul General to the Midwest, Brian O’Brien, along with IPPFA President James McNamee, have the pleasure of inviting you to a breakfast seminar titled “Brexit—Implications for Ireland.” This event will be held at the Union League Club of Chicago on Friday, April 7th from 8:30am to 10:30am.

When?

Friday, April 7th, 2017 from 8:30-10:30am

Where?

The Union League Club of Chicago

65 W. Jackson Blvd.

Chicago, IL 60604

How do I R.S.V.P?

Contact Mayra Banuelos:

mayra@ippfa.org

(630) 784-0406

North Carolina wants to use existing low rates to shore up retiree pensions and health-care debt.

In the low interest rate environment, states and localities have been saving billions by refinancing old debt. In most cases, the savings have benefited the general fund balance. But in North Carolina, State Treasurer Dale Folwell is making a push to instead use those savings to pay down pension and retiree health-care debt.

Starting this spring, Folwell plans to refinance “every dollar we possibly can.” He’ll ask the General Assembly to divert the savings to the treasurer’s office, where he’ll then divvy up the extra dollars: 15 percent goes into the pension fund and 85 percent goes toward retiree health-care debt, which has a larger unfunded liability.

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COMMITTEE PRINT

Budget Reconciliation Legislative Recommendations Relating to Repeal and Replace of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

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Leading Issues:

• Tax Reform

• Dodd-Frank Repeal

• Regulatory Freeze

• “Two for One” Rule

• State-Run Plans for Private Employees

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Retirement calculators focus on withdrawal rates and interest on investments but fail to identify one of the biggest costs of retirement—the cost of health care.

Retirees should be more concerned about how much money they have saved for health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs in retirement, an Employee Benefits Research Institute report said.

A couple with 90^th percentile drug expenses could need up to $349,000 in savings in order to have a 90 percent chance of covering their retirement health care expenses, EBRI said.

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The IPPFA Remembrance & Survivors Fund was created in 2003 by its sister organization, The Illinois Public Fund Association (“IPPFA”), a statewide organization that provides assistance to over 525 of the 655 police and firefighter pension funds throughout Illinois.

The IPPFA Remembrance & Survivors Fund was established for the purpose of providing financial support to the families of Illinois police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty. To date, we have provided financial assistance to the families of fourteen police officers and firefighters who died while serving and protecting the residents of this great state of Illinois.

IPPFA Members: End of Watch – Video

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Yet another proposal aims to get the state out of crisis.

A 1917 report conducted on the Illinois pension system revealed bad news. After a pension-focused trip around the globe, with studies on such nations as Great Britain, New Zealand, and Austro-Hungary, it got to crux of the matter:

“The general condition of the pensions operating under the laws of Illinois may be correctly described as one of insolvency. That is to say, viewed from the standpoint of sound finance and of having the necessary reserves to carry out the payment laws, there are immense deficiencies in the existing funds.”

Though the language would sooner be found in an episode of Downton Abbey, the reality for Gov. Bruce Rauner and the 100th General Assembly sounds much the same but is far worse now. Rauner has made pensions and other pro-business reforms so central to his administration, his critics say it’s at the expense of a state budget.

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