Have you opened your 401(k) statement lately? Don't bother. You've lost most of your money in the collapse of the U.S. economy over the past six months -- unless you're a government worker in Pennsylvania.
You can't lose because the taxpayers are obligated to pay your entire pension regardless of how much of that money is lost in investments.
What's so special about state workers, you say? Why should you bail them out?
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is wondering the same thing. The newspaper concludes in an editorial that state workers should have the same type of retirement plan as those in private industry. When the market goes up, everyone benefits. When the market goes down, everybody shares the pain equally.
The state must renegotiate existing public-sector pensions to make them defined-contribution plans and establish a unified statewide retirement system for public employees, the newspaper argues.
Otherwise, Pennsylvania residents will see huge jumps in property taxes to cover the costs of guaranteed lifetime pensions for state workers.
Read the full editorial, "The pensions crisis: Only one solution," at the newspaper's Web site.
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