Toward a New State Pension System

I have a solution to the public pension crisis in America. Don’t kid yourself, this is a local issue at heart. It affects every taxpayer in the country. Here is what I came up with:

I feel this system would be fair and equitable to all parties involved. The particulars of this new pension system would have to be evaluated and ultimately created by accountants and lawyers, of course, but I feel I have a road map they could follow.

I would like to see a hybrid pension system installed. I have been advocating for months now a system where all new public employees, regardless of job description, are hired into a new pension system. All current employees as of a certain date would be grandfathered into the old pensions system. I am not sure what that cut-off date is, but it must be fair to current employees who have been promised a retirement. We need to keep our word and pay these people what they thought they were going to retire with.

Moving forward, I am in favor of installing a 401k-type system where the employee pays directly into their own fund and can manage their own fund. By having employees deposit directly into this 401k-type fund, the government could not borrow from it since it would have no access to it.

This pension fund would be administered globally, but managed personally by the employee. This account is the employee’s and the employee has say over it. I would have a public match of funds through taxpayer contribution based on market conditions. Some years the match would be higher than other years, depending on the economy and rates of return.

I am fine with providing public workers with a pension, I just want it to be equitable, fair and sustainable.

Chad D. Walz