AUSTIN — A market value drop of about $25 billion in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas since Sept. 1 prompted actuaries Friday to warn against giving retirees any additional benefits next year unless the Legislature pays for them with tax dollars.
However, system managers said the losses will cause no cuts in current benefits for retired teachers because the fund's investments are made to cover costs over the long term.
Economy batters teacher retirement fund
Deck informed an interim House-Senate committee studying state pension issues that preliminary estimates placed losses for the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System at a 26.8 percent in 2008. The stock market's decline fueled deep losses in the system's portfolio during the past year. Its value plummeted to $10.1 billion from an all-time high of $14.2 billion in 2007.
"It's been the toughest year since 1931," said Robert Smith, chief investment officer for KPERS.
Members of the committee agreed the long-term funding status of KPERS made it appropriate to warn the 2009 Legislature against consideration of a cost-of-living adjustment for the state's 68,000 retirees. There also was consensus that it could be necessary for the state to annually inject $20 million more into KPERS starting in 2012.
State pension fund tanking
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's massive state government and teacher pension funds reported double-digit declines Tuesday, losses that reflect returns through September but not the market's continued fall since then.
Officials with both systems warned that year-end totals could be even worse.
From July 1 through Sept. 30, the two funds fell by more than $12 billion, or nearly half the size of the current state budget.
The State Employees' Retirement System said its investments fell about 14.4 percent from January through September, while the larger Public School Employees' Retirement System's investments dropped 16.7 percent for the one-year period ending Sept. 30.
The government workers' pension fund shed $4.3 billion dollars from July 1 though Sept. 30, ending the period with a value of $29.3 billion.
The teacher fund, the nation's 14th largest public defined-benefit pension fund, lost $8 billion over the same three-month period to a value of $54.7 billion.
Teacher, government pension funds post losses
Most of Wisconsin’s state and local government retirees will get smaller pension checks next year, unless the stock market rebounds dramatically.
The State Investment Board reports another $10 billion loss in its pension fund in October. That puts the total reduction for the year at $25 billion. The retirement fund now stands at $62.5 billion – about the same as in 2000.
Recently, state officials warned 150,000 retirees that their pension checks might be reduced starting May 1. The drop would be the first in the program’s 26 year history.
State pension fund down $10 billion in October
Florida's public employee pension plan has lost more than a quarter of its peak value, but Gov. Charlie Crist and other officials Monday said the fund is built for the long haul and there's no need to panic.
They said Florida has fared no worse than most big investors - a bit better than some major Wall Street indicators - due to slumps in the stock market, real estate and other segments of the national and world economies.
The fund, which covers state and local government employees including teachers, lost $37.9 billion - 27 percent - over 13 months through Oct. 31, said Dennis MacKee, spokesman for the State Board of Administration. That dropped its value to $100.5 billion.
Florida pension fund loses a quarter its value
Everything is fine no need to panic.
