ucrp

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How Ironclad is the Pension Guarantee?

Byuclafaculty

Famous clash of Civil War ironclads There is a risk in even blogging about this topic that someone will start worrying that his/her pension check next month won’t arrive.  So the usual caveats are in order.  1) There is enough money in the UC pension today so that if no one contributed (and in fact contributions are being made and ramping up), 2) and investment returns were zero over the long term (very unlikely), the fund would not run out of money for many, many years.  And even at that point, there could be pay-as-you-go funding.  In addition, the Regents’…

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Social Security Estimator Available

Byuclafaculty

Faculty who are getting up there in years may find it useful to estimate what they will receive in Social Security from the website above at http://www.ssa.gov/estimator/.  Note that some old timers opted out of Social Security when the Regents joined the federal system and that the website will not be applicable for them. You can receive Social Security starting at age 62.  If you wait, your benefits will increase.  (But – and we hate to remind you of this existential fact – the fewer months you will have to receive those benefits.) And a little music while you work…

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Brown Signs Bill Offering Private Pensions (Kind of/Maybe)

Byuclafaculty

As readers of this blog will know, public pensions have been an issue in California and for UC.  Recently, Gov. Brown signed a bill that modified public pensions in the state – with exclusions including an exclusion for UC which modified its own plan in 2010. Democrats in the legislature believe that there would be more public sympathy for government pensions if more private sector workers had defined benefit pensions.  (Of course, most private workers are under Social Security which is defined benefit.)  Private employers, however, have been moving away from defined benefit to defined contribution (“401k-type”) plans.  So a…

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LAO Needs to Join Governor & Legislature on the UC Pension Train

Byuclafaculty

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) yesterday issued a review of the 2012-13 state budget enacted last June.  At one time, LAO asserted that the state had no responsibility for the UC pension plan.  The language on page 19 describing the treatment of the pension this time around is more constrained and does not venture a legal opinion.  That’s progress but LAO is still not where it needs to be.  Here is what it said on the UC pension: Provides Augmentation for UC Pension Costs.  The $89 million augmentation for UC’s pension costs represents the first time in more than two…

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No “Ramp Jam” at Wilshire/Pension Deal Excluding UC Goes to Brown

Byuclafaculty

Commuters to UCLA will know that the Wilshire ramps to the I-405 have been closed for construction. That project was termed “Ramp Jam” but apparently the jam is gone.  At least some of the causes for traffic jams near UCLA as a result of the construction on the 405 are ending:=== The westbound Wilshire Boulevard onramp to the northbound 405 Freeway and the northbound 405’s offramp to westbound Wilshire will reopen Friday—three weeks earlier than planned, according to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The ramps were closed June 22 in the first phase of a yearlong effort to demolish…

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June Trigger; August Cap

Byuclafaculty

Note: This posting has been updated with a report at the very bottom indicating UC is not included in the pension deal.   First we had a trigger cut as part of the state budget enacted in June.  Now we are about to hear about a pension cap.  According to various news reports, the legislative leaders will announce later today what they are going to do with Governor Brown’s pension proposals.  They have apparently dropped his hybrid idea of a mix of defined benefit and defined contribution and are sticking with defined benefit.  But some kind of cap will also…

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Final Nail in Coffin for November Pension Ballot Proposition

Byuclafaculty

At one time, Gov. Brown was insisting that there should be ballot proposition in November limiting public pensions.  As readers of this blog will know, the governor has a plan for public pensions that would override the changes the Regents enacted for the UC pension system in 2010. The time has long passed for an initiative on pensions to make it to the November ballot.  In theory, the legislature could put something on pensions on the ballot despite any time limits.  But in fact legislative Dems don’t like the governor’s plan and would be unlikely to go along with the…

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Sacramento Pension Politics Could Open Door to UC Exemption

Byuclafaculty

Governor Brown has a 12-point pension plan for all public pensions in California that would override UC’s own pension solution.  The legislative leaders have a different view on pensions than the governor but they also have shown no sign of being willing to exempt UC so far. However, while the governor and the legislature tussle over the pension issue, voters have imposed pension changes in local elections, notably in San Diego and San Jose.  The governor has indicated that public sector unions should agree to his plan or they will get worse from local voters.  It appears that Senate leader…

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UC Again in Danger of Being Swept into Statewide Pension Changes

Byuclafaculty

There are various indications that now that the legislature is done (for a time) in dealing with the state budget, its attention is turning toward public pensions. Under the governor’s plan, UC would be swept into a statewide program that would override the changes adopted by the Regents in December 2010.  Among the changes in the governor’s plan would be that the new lower tier would not be exclusively defined benefit but would have to be a hybrid mix of defined benefit and defined contribution.  There would also be a cap of some type on total benefits. (Unclear exactly how…

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July 1: Take a Moment to Remember

Byuclafaculty

Surely you didn’t, but just in case you forgot: Faculty, staff and UC will contribute more to the UC Retirement Plan (UCRP) beginning July 1, 2012.  Rates for faculty and staff will rise to 5 percent of pay, up from roughly 3.5 percent. The university will pay 10 percent of pay, up from 7 percent… Source: http://ucrpfuture.universityofcalifornia.edu/news-updates/uc-retirement-plan-contributions-increasing-july-1-2/. Just one of many things to remember: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfY-L5Cp0-0&w=320&h=195]