By Tim Walker Source: NEA Today Retired special education teacher KC Walsh started thinking about her pension a few years into her teaching career. “I might have been one of the few who did,” recalls Walsh, who lives in Oak Grove, Calif. “Teaching is an extremely hard job. You have other things on your mind, especially when you are young. But knowing that there was some security at the end my career helped keep me in the profession.” Walsh [...]
By J. Patrick Patterson Source: In These Times If pensions make your eyes glaze over, that’s by design. The less attention they get, the more quietly Wall Street can profit from them. But these massive funds quietly shape the economy we all live in. As of September, the largest public pension fund in the country — the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or CalPERS — manages approximately $575 billion. In New York City, five pension funds and systems — representing more than 750,000 current and retired [...]
By James Comtois Source: Institutional Investor State and local lawmakers have been looking to make cuts to public pension plans to reduce costs. But new research shows that these potential short-term savings could come at a steep long-term cost. The National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) has found that defined benefit pension plans generate far more in state and local tax revenue than they cost taxpayers. In 2023 alone, pensions generated nearly $662 billion in tax revenues [...]
By Michael Katz Source: Chief Investment Officer The Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund’s $1.5 billion in payments to participants living in Illinois in 2023 had a $2.1 billion impact on the state’s economy and supported more than 11,500 jobs, according to its 2024 Economic Impact Statement. The report found that each dollar it paid out in pension benefits generated $1.40 in economic activity for the state. “We are proud to serve as an economic engine for the growth of our [...]