Pension / Retirement Crisis Is Becoming an Underfunded ‘Tsunami’ According to the SEC

This article was written by Rory Hall and originally published at The Daily Coin / Alt-Market

We have detailed this problem over the past 3-4 years warning people about how bad the pensions around the nation have become nothing more than another ponzi scheme. Most, if not all, state, local and federal pension programs are underfunded by 40% or more.

What we stated a mere two months ago, in September 2018!

The steam that is building began in earnest in 2012 and has been picking up speed ever since. Look no further than some of the recent events we have documented time and again – Detroit, CALPers, Jeremy Stein, Teamsters and Dallas Pension Fund. All of these events have taken place in less than five years. What will the next four-plus years bring? How much longer should one sit on their hands and watch as thousands upon thousands of people either have retirement stolen or placed on lock-down as is the case with the Dallas Police Pension fund?

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We have studied, researched and written about this for well over four years. Harry Markopolous, in 2011, tried to warn us about the ongoing theft, within the pension funds, on a daily basis by the banking cabal – link. CALPers pension program is north of 50% underfunded and losing a little more each and every quarter. – link. These are merely two of the articles that paint a picture of a tsunami of pension bankruptcies in the near future.

That’s a lot of people around the country that are directly impacted by unfunded, underfunded or otherwise completely insolvent pension funds.

It appears either the Forbes writer Elizabeth Bauer or SEC Commissioner Kara Stein read the article we published in September as they are now using the exact same language we used in September – ‘tsunami’ of pension failures.

SEC Commissioner Warns: A Retirement Crisis ‘Tsunami’ Is Approaching

Commissioner Kara M. Stein spoke to the Brookings Institution on Tuesday, giving a talk titled “The New American Dream: Retirement Security.”  Here’s what she had to say:

Since World War II, Americans have planned their retirements around the expectation of combining a pension, Social Security benefits, and personal savings to provide sufficient income for their golden years. . . .

Due to a number of factors, the financial health of the Social Security trust fund has been declining. According to the 2018 Trustees Report on Social Security, the fund will be depleted by 2034.That is only 16 years away. At the same time, the availability of employer-provided pension plans has also been declining. Few private sector workers today have access to a pension, and many public sector pension plans are facing severe financial problems. . . .

We’ve moved from a collective retirement system to one in which each person is expected to go it alone. . . .

The retirement crisis is a tsunami that is rapidly approaching. We can already see it and, indeed, we are starting to feel its effects. Americans are having to work past traditional retirement age. And the number of bankruptcies for those over the age of 65 has increased dramatically. The size and speed of the tsunami is likely to increase as it gets closer and closer to us. Our population is aging and the cost of medical care—an important factor for retirees—is increasing. We must address this problem before we are collectively underwater. . . .

As an SEC Commissioner, I’m here to talk about solutions specifically related to the third leg of the stool—investments. Stashing away money in a savings account only gets retirees so far. To have a safe and secure retirement, Americans must invest their savings to allow them to grow. . . . Given the importance of investment to Americans’ ability to retire, what can the SEC do to help?

Stein’s talk continues by addressing the need for improved financial education, and suggests the SEC might create a model curriculum for schools, create spelling bee-like contests, and create an app, for instance.  They might also work to improve the readability of disclosures in an investment prospectus, with key information up-front, or require that 401(k) disclosures include information on projected retirement income.  She revisits the question of the now-discarded plan of holding investment advisors to a fiduciary standard (that is, prohibiting them from steering clients to investments which pay higher commissions) and suggests that a (less-desirable) alternative might be educating investors to ask whether their advisors have conflicts of interest.  In addition, because of the impact that severe market downturns can have on retirement-savers, the Commission should, while recognizing that downturns are a fact of life, look at actions to mitigate the likelihood of the most severe market crashes. Source

I am not a financial advisor so I’m not offering financial advice I just have a simple question – does it really take a “professional advisor” to see the writing on the wall? If you are not at least thinking about this problem, then it may be time. At least look at what is going on within your retirement account, especially if it is with a large corporate or state entity. We made our decision in 2009 and still have zero regrets. As a matter-of-fact I am extremely happy I got out when I did. Sorry I missed out on the gains, but I don’t regret the decision for one second. Got physical; we sure do!

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