PERA - Promised retirement benefits are unsustainable

"I think 20 state pension funds will run out of money in the next decade, and that certainly includes Colorado," said CU economics professor Barry Poulson, who tags PERA as being among the shakiest public pension funds in the nation.

"We're one of the worst. We're accumulating unfunded liabilities faster than almost every other state."

The increasing cost of providing benefits to retired employees doesn't just disappear; it gets passed on to member institutions, like local school districts. In this way, it's interesting to see the dots connected between PERA's funding problems and teacher layoffs.

PERA will remain fiscally unsustainable as long as government workers are promised a Defined Benefit rather than a Defined Contribution.

Government worker retirements plans are paid for on the backs of all those who work in the private sector, who now earn on average less than government workers and have a much smaller retirement plan - even with Social Security and their own savings.

It makes you wonder who is working for whom?

Thanks to FaceTheState for liberal use of excerpts.