Source: wfpl.org - Monday, August 26, 2019
Kentucky’s ailing pension funds might finally start getting healthier, according to estimates provided to lawmakers on Monday. The pot of money used to send out retirement checks to most of Kentucky’s public workers — KERS non-hazardous — is currently among the worst-funded in the nation at 12.9 percent. But Rich Robben, Executive Director of the Office of Investments for Kentucky Retirement Systems, says that after massive infusions of cash into the pension system by the legislature in recent years, that funding level might go up by 2 percentage points next year. “The assets are growing, outpacing the liabilities. I would commend the legislature for the amount of money that has been appropriated to the plans,” Robben said. “There’s no quick fix to this. But what has been done is working.” Robben said initial projections showed KERS non-hazardous growing to 15 percent funded in 2020 and 17 percent funded in 2021. The predictions will be finalized in December. Related Story Kentucky Politics Distilled: Pension Bill Passes Special Session Kentucky’s pension funds became the most unfunded in the nation due to a combination of factors — diverting contributions away from the systems in the early 2000s, the 2008 recession dinging pension investments and demographic changes like a longer-living workforce. In recent years, the state legislature has approved — and Gov. Matt Bevin has signed — budgets that put much more money into the pen
Source: Breaking News
Kentucky’s ailing pension funds might finally start getting healthier, according to estimates provided to lawmakers on Monday. The pot of money used to send out retirement checks to most of Kentucky’s public workers — KERS non-hazardous — is currently among the worst-funded in the nation at 12.9 percent. But Rich Robben, Executive Director of the Office of Investments for Kentucky Retirement Systems, says that after massive infusions of cash into the pension system by the legislature in recent years, that funding level might go up by 2 percentage points next year. “The assets are growing, outpacing the liabilities. I would commend the legislature for the amount of money that has been appropriated to the plans,” Robben said. “There’s no quick fix to this. But what has been done is working.” Robben said initial projections showed KERS non-hazardous growing to 15 percent funded in 2020 and 17 percent funded in 2021. The predictions will be finalized in December. Related Story Kentucky Politics Distilled: Pension Bill Passes Special Session Kentucky’s pension funds became the most unfunded in the nation due to a combination of factors — diverting contributions away from the systems in the early 2000s, the 2008 recession dinging pension investments and demographic changes like a longer-living workforce. In recent years, the state legislature has approved — and Gov. Matt Bevin has signed — budgets that put much more money into the pen
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Source: Breaking News
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