Articles for category Retirement
Posted May 19, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Retirement
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday in favor of participants in employee retirement plans who object to companies' investment decisions that eat into retirement savings.
The justices revived claims by current and former employees of energy company Edison International. The employees argued that the company chose mutual funds with excessive fees.
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Posted May 15, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Retirement
Henry Jones has been declared the unofficial winner in the 2015 election of the retired member representative seat on the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) Board of Administration. There was no opposition to Jones' re-election and pending certification of the election by California's Secretary of State, he will begin a new four-year term of service on the Board on January 16, 2016.
"I'm honored to serve another term and represent our retirees," said Jones, CalPERS Vice President. "I look forward to continuing to work in my leadership role alongside my colleagues on the Board to ensure the long-term sustainability of the pension fund and our health care program."
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Posted May 13, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Retirement
Some pension program changes, such as the shift to defined contribution plans from defined benefit plans, might be widening the income gap and dampening economic growth, said a new report from the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems.
There are conversations about income and equality, but few touch on the treatment of pensioners and how that contributes to income inequality, said Hank Kim, Washington-based, executive director and counsel at NCPERS and co-author of the report.
In the private sector, there has been a shift to DC plans from DB plans. Between 1975 and 2011, the number of private sector DB plans declined by 57% and the number of employees covered by DB plans declined 10%, NCPERS’ research found.
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Posted May 13, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Politics
Retirement
Government pensions in California have withstood another fierce challenge in bankruptcy court.
A bankruptcy judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by two disgruntled bond creditors challenging the city of San Bernardino’s decision to make its pension payments in full to CalPERS.
Ruling from Riverside, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Jury tossed the claim filed by the two creditors, Ambac Assurance Corp. and a Luxembourg bank named EEPK.
Last fall the city, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2012, said it would pay its $24 million-a-year CalPERS bill in full. Ambac and EEPK said that arrangement was unfair to other creditors. Although San Bernardino hasn’t filed its complete repayment plan, it’s likely that many creditors would stand to receive only a portion of what they’re owed.
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Posted May 01, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Health Care
Retirement
Long-Term Care Reform Package Making Its Way Through Legislature
California legislators are considering a package of 24 bills this session collectively aimed at improving the state's support network for aging services and long-term care.
The bills -- 12 in the Assembly and 12 in the Senate -- deal with a variety of issues involving some of the 112 separate programs for aging and long-term care overseen by 20 different agencies and departments in the state and county governments.
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Posted Apr 15, 2015 by
Retirees
Health Care
Legislation
Retirement
Medicare is poised to overhaul the way it pays physicians and create new systems to reward high-performing doctors under legislation approved by the Senate late Tuesday.
The unusually bipartisan bill, which passed the House easily last month, will immediately lift the threat of an automatic 21% cut in Medicare fees to physicians, which was set to take effect Wednesday.
The legislation also marks a milestone in the push to modernize Medicare, the nation’s mammoth federal insurance program for the elderly, and move it away from the traditional system of paying physicians for every procedure they perform.
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Posted Feb 19, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Retirement
The 2015 Natixis Global Retirement Security Index put Switzerland at the No. 1 spot in its annual ranking of the well-being and “life conditions” that pre-retirees and retirees can expect across 150 countries. The prospects for current and aspiring retirees in America is less good: The U.S. is stuck at No. 19, where it’s been for the past three years. That means it beat out No. 20, Slovenia (hurray!), but trails countries including Luxembourg, Iceland, and Belgium.
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Posted Jan 21, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Retirement
State Employees
The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) Board of Administration unanimously re-elected Rob Feckner as Board president and elected Henry Jones as vice president. Feckner will be serving his 11th term as president, while it will be Jones' first vice presidential term.
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Posted Jan 14, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
General News
Retirement
In failing health and facing up to 30 years in prison, businessman Alfred Villalobos apparently committed suicide before going on trial in connection with the bribery scandal at CalPERS.
Villalobos’ attorneys, appearing at a pre-trial hearing in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, disclosed that Villalobos died the day before. His death ends the government’s criminal case against the Nevada businessman –and largely closes the books on a corruption scandal that roiled the nation’s largest public pension fund.
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Posted Jan 14, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
General News
Retirement
The Sacramento Bee reported Jan. 14 that Alfred Villalobos, accused of bribing former CalPERS Chief Executive Officer Fred Buenrostro to influence the fund’s business decisions, has died.
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Posted Jan 14, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
State Economy
Retirement
A new report on the fiscal health of CalPERS shows an estimated funding level of 77 percent for the Public Employees’ Retirement Fund (PERF) in 2014 – a positive growth of more than 7 percentage points over 2013. The PERF was funded at 69.8 percent as of June 30, 2013 based on the most recent actuarial value of assets. The PERF is the main pension trust fund that pays retirement benefits.
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Posted Jan 09, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
State Economy
Retirement
Budget deliberation kicked off in the Capitol this morning with the release of Governor Brown’s proposed 2015-2016 state budget. He proposes $113.3 billion in general fund and $51.4 billion in special fund expenditures making for a $164.7 billion spending plan. This represents a 1.4 percent bump over current year spending.
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Posted Jan 09, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Retirement
Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. on Jan. 9 proposed a balanced budget that injects billions of dollars more into schools and health care coverage, holds college tuition flat and delivers on Propositions 1 and 2 by investing in long overdue water projects and saving money, while continuing to chip away at the state’s other long-term liabilities – debt, infrastructure, retiree health care and climate change.
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Posted Jan 09, 2015 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Health Care
Retirement
Anne Stausboll, Chief Executive Officer for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) issued the following statement today in response to the proposed state budget and efforts to reduce health care costs today and in the future:
"Managing and paying for the cost of health care for public employees requires discipline, collaboration and innovation. We applaud the Governor’s wisdom to do what CalPERS and many public employers have done in recent years, tackling the cost of health care and retiree health care," Stausboll said.
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Posted Dec 18, 2014 by
CalPERS
Retirees
State Economy
Retirement
It’s official: Gov. Jerry Brown’s January budget proposal will include a plan to reduce the nearly $72 billion in unfunded promises the state has made to pay retiree health benefits.
Now how to pay it? Answer: Money in the rainy day fund that voters approved just last month, Proposition 2.
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Posted Dec 11, 2014 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Politics
Retirement
Retirees covered by financially troubled multiemployer pensions could soon see their benefits cut under a congressional spending deal to keep the government running, the Associated Press (AP) reported Dec. 10.
The plan does not affect public pensions like those under CalPERS, but California State Retirees is closely monitoring this and all other pension issues and trends.
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Posted Dec 04, 2014 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Retirement
A new report finds that defined benefit (DB) pension plans are a far more cost-efficient means of providing retirement income as compared to individual defined contribution (DC) accounts. The study calculates that the economic efficiencies embedded in pensions enable these retirement plans to deliver the same retirement income at a 48% lower cost than 401(k)-type DC accounts.
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Posted Nov 14, 2014 by
CalPERS
Retirees
Retirement
Taking aim again at government pensions, an angry creditor in Stockton’s bankruptcy case is appealing a pivotal court ruling that preserved the city’s retirement plans.
Franklin Templeton Investments filed a notice of appeal this week, challenging the Oct. 30 decision that approved Stockton’s reorganization plan. The plan keeps the pensions fully funded but pays Franklin, which loaned the city $36 million during better economic times, just 12 cents on the dollar.
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Posted Nov 05, 2014 by
Retirees
Politics
Retirement
Max Turchen, a longtime CSR board member and political activist, passed away Oct. 31 at the age of 94. “Max was a tireless champion for the rights of retirees and workers, and he will be sorely missed,” said CSR President Tim Behrens. “He was dedicated, hard working and most importantly – he was a good man.”
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Posted Nov 04, 2014 by
CalPERS
Retirees
General News
Politics
Retirement
CalPERS said Nov. 3 it has received a $249.3 million payment from Bank of America, the result of a settlement over toxic mortgage securities purchased by the pension fund during the housing bubble. With the Bank of America settlement, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System said it has now recovered more than $500 million from its investments in bad mortgage securities.
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