https://nitter.net/mkt_sentiment/status/1499585220001304576?t=1lHDKrZ8BvqKPZ-YNb_q6g&s=19
Yes, let's make teachers' retirement income dependent on the success of a Russian bank. Capitalism assigns resources most efficiently, you see.
Wait this can't be real right? I had long given up on the system doing anything good for anyone but surely it isn't THIS depraved?
fun fact: there are multiple pension systems for public employees in the commonwealth of kentucky.
Fund A is for lawmakers and judges. Funds B-H are for all the other public sector employees.
Fund A is fairly well funded and in good shape for its performance targets.
the rest... well were fully funded in 2000, but between 2000 and 2018 tanked so hard it was short 48 billion dollars, making it the worst funded pension system in america... a country now famous for its ability to meticulously destroy pension systems. almost 4 billion was never even deposited by state lawmakers from funds dedicated specifically to the pension system, while the much of the shortfall came from bizarrely risky investments in the wake of secretive fund manager hiring processes.
pension systems can be massive and overtly political players on wall street, especially in the context of divestment campaigns. there's a reason every state and company has been spiking the football with their pension systems and encouraging employees to go to IRAs. lots of little surplus fees from individuals with no political power. ideally, a pension manager can be elected by employees and employees can (and have) made demands of their funds. if joe blow with his $80,000 retirement account threatens to leave unless they create a low fee index fund that doesn't invest in the defense industry or fossil fuels, they laugh. is joe blow comes in as the representative for a 500 billion dollar pension account, it's a different story.
the only draw to most public sector jobs in KY, like teaching, was the moderate retirement benefit because the state pay for non-appointed employees is and has been atrocious. there are been numerous wildcat strikes over the years, always coming from the more militant part of the state (the old coal fields of the east), but as they spread through the rest of the state and reach the urban counties, the strikes falter and fail with mixed messaging coming from union officials making backroom deals with city councils.
the only remotely amusing thing about any of this is that the lawmakers were too fucking stupid way back when to put the cops on the same fund as themselves, so the cops' pensions are gutted too alongside the teachers. this means there's kind of a find-out monster waiting at the end of the tunnel if the statehouse continues to fuck-around.... which it looks like they have continued to do with absolute abandon.
investing in a russian bank is par for the course. surprised they aren't long on sub prime auto loans denominated in iraqi denari.
EDIT: for more fun facts...
The latest annual report of Kentucky Retirement Systems says that two-thirds of its retired members receive $20,000 or less in annual benefit payments and the average annual benefit is $16,161.
The average benefit for a Teachers Retirement System member is $36,244.
Most state and local government workers get Social Security benefits. But teachers do not. Teachers contribute more into their retirement plan, which is designed to produce a larger benefit to compensate for the fact they do not get Social Security.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Stalin absolutely should not have stopped at Berlin.
Supposedly they divested their12M in holdings the day before the invasion, only losing 3 mil...
Oh cool, the 2022 remix of New York City Banker... :agony-soviet:
The plot where the police pension fund is about to invest into the scam company in The Other Guys was a nice touch by Adam McKay.
CalPERS has made some terrible investments as well, almost like California is extremely neoliberal and not commifornia
