“I’D LOVE A DOUBLE DIP, THANK YOU.”

“I’D LOVE A DOUBLE DIP, THANK YOU.”

(FRAZER CHRONICLE)

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

 

Wow, double dip, double trouble, double down, double dealing, and double-double, two little words, an itsy, bitsy phrase that surprisingly can mean quite a bit, and I thought it was ice cream. I’m always looking, with a hopeful attitude in my local paper, the Green Bay Press Gazette for a semblance of local investigative reporting, after all, Green Bay, Wisconsin does have a population of more than a hundred thousand…..and newsy issues do happen here…..other than the Green Bay Packers.

This morning (March 7, 2014) the Gazette almost broke with tradition, there was a front page story about Double Dipping written by Eric Litke, a Wisconsin Gannett Media writer. Although he’s not a Press Gazette scribe…..directly, I’ll give the local paper credit for reporting on a problem that has been going on more or less throughout the country for decades…..it’s just now getting a proper airing in the light of day.

Our nation is, and has gone through a financial downturn almost in every strata of our society, and somehow we continue to rumble down that old road of ignorance towards our collective oblivion, seemingly comfortable in the fact that we can get paid from the endless money tree, because it’ll reseed itself.

According to the Litke article, more than 3,000 public sector retirees returned to the work at the public trough, or what I call “plucking the money tree.”  This number of people which returned to work was for the calendar year of 2013…..(I had no idea.) “How can this be,” I had absolutely no idea that so many people out there were that greedy…..and make no mistake, these people are slime, they are taking advantage of a situation.

I’m sure that I know some of these people, or at least would recognize a name or two, it however doesn’t matter, whether they are my neighbor, or friend, they are still slime. And above and beyond that, they collectively must all have flunked general math. Otherwise how could they justify taking a double dipping position, getting paid from a retirement fund that’ll pay out way more than it brings in, in a year, idiots.

My wife gets a state pension, she retired two years ago this coming May, she’s deaf, and has balance issues, she couldn’t double dip if she tried. I wasn’t smart at all during my formative years, (pre-retirement) when I should have been salting a portion of my paycheck away for my golden years. So I couldn’t double dip…..from anything, there’s no pension fund for dumbness.

SOME REALLY STAGGERING NUMBERS

Last year, in Wisconsin, about 9,000 people retired from their public sector jobs, but returned to either their jobs, or another in the public domain. Public Domain, a place where taxpayer funds might be used, definitely public employee funds are used to buoy the sinking fund that the state pension is. Simple math dictates that when you have 1/3^rd of eligible employees taking retirement pay…..and that returning to work…..and keep getting their pension benefits, that the end result will be to bankrupt that pension fund.

The Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds administers the system, and apparently doesn’t have much of a problem with about 33% of its retirees become unretired because they have a craving for some additional cash to pad their bank accounts. School teachers seemed to be the most craving, they returned to their jobs in some way, shape, or form a whopping 59% of the time, these people made up 42% of the total retirees. A quick study of these greedy bas-----;

Neenah Schools, 43 pensioners, number 5 in the state

Green Bay, 46 pensioners

Sheboygan, 36 pensioners

Wausau, 36 pensioners

Appleton, 30 pensioners

And we’re not talking chicken feed here either, unless you would call $23,673, the figure paid on average a retiree at age 59.5, chump change, (if you do…..call more than $23,000 “chump change,” I’ll take that from you any day of the week).

And these retirements are what can only be termed “strategic” because a bunch of these people who retired at the legal age of 59.5 years were going to pay more into their retirement benefits after 2011 because of Act 10 which was passed into law during Governor Scott Walkers attack on public sector workers, their bargaining power, and a complete restructure of how much more employees would pay into their retirement plans.

Typically Wisconsin Retirement System, (WRS) contributions are the equivalent of 10% of an employee’s annual salary to the fund until Act 10 came into effect when employees began making half the contribution themselves. Employees retiring from WRS eligible positions can receive pensions as annuities…..ongoing monthly payments…..or lump sums that are paid out at separation, retirement, or death.

As of December 31, 2012, the latest year for such data is available, the WRS system had 256,833 active employees, 173,655 annuitants, and 159,973 inactive employees…..those who are not currently in a WRS-eligible position but who previously earned benefits which are payable at retirement.

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board manages the investment of pension funds, while the Department of Employee Trust Funds administers the system, collecting and disbursing money, and establishing procedures. With $93.6 billion in assets, the WRS is the only public pension fund in the country that is fully funded, meaning it has enough money on hand to fulfill its pension obligations.

As was mentioned before, “the average lump-sum payout at retirement, 59.5 years is $23,673, this figure to general employees, (all WRS with the exception of police, fire, teachers and elected officials). General employees, teachers and elected officials can get pensions as early as 55 years of age, but the benefit is reduced for anyone younger than 65.

REHIRES ARE RETREDS…..THAT’S THE FINDINGS

An audit in December, 2012 found that retirees generally returned to their old jobs as part timers, and were generally paid less than before retirement. Three fourths of rehired pensioners return to the entity from which they retired.

This audit provides the only historical context on the numbers of rehired pensioners, but true comparisons are impossible since the audit examined irregular time periods and looked at employers to which pension recipients returned, rather than where they left. The audit also examined a time period that included an abnormally high number of retirements in the wake of the Act 10 collective bargaining reforms.

THESE ARE JUST THE FACTS

Replacement income (which a pension is) was intended to provide retirement security…..not preretirement wealth. Pensions were not designed to be deferred compensation, as some would argue. There is a moral question here that some retirees figure that “they’ve earned their retirement,” but double dipping is not a part of what a retiree has earned…..check with the I.R.S. on using pension payments as deferred payments…..the education will shock you.

There are many issues here, a double dipper is taking jobs away from the job market, financially strapped states just might impose the old excise tax, or an income surtax on these smarty panted double dippers. And then there’s the old pension fund going broke argument…..which by the way is very real.

Those of you who are living in the lap of luxury in your golden years, I’m thinking that maybe the Gods of finance might have an extra special place for you at the Pearly Gates, and it won’t be selling ice cream.

HAVE A NICE DAY!