The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. Its the Government's safeguard for private pensions when companies go broke. I had not heard a peep about them in this latest mess, but I remember in 2008 they were a big deal... so I looked it up today just to see what was going on and read their most recent (2019) annual report. Below is the letter from the Director, its from November 15th. Take note of those first two sentences in the second paragraph. (Emphasis mine.) If that's what he said in November (DOW @ 28,000 that day), just a prediction here... but this is going to get real ugly real fast. They are heavily invested in the markets, as are all the private pension funds they backstop. Those private ones, when they collapse, PBGC takes over. Millions of retirees who's companies have went under over the years depend on PBGC. So now... on top of PBGC's own funds (that were already in trouble) getting absolutely smashed... imagine the number of private pensions that are heading for insolvency and will wind up on their doorstep. This is big deal, this won't be the last you'll hear of this. We sure do have some problems don't we. ____________________________________________________ A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR We recently marked the 45th anniversary of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC or the Corporation). Since 1974, PBGC has played a vital role in protecting the retirement security of millions of American workers and retirees. First, as a guarantor, the Corporation provides insurance coverage for the retirement benefits of over 35 million workers and retirees. Second, as trustee and administrator, the Corporation provides retirement security for about 1.5 million participants and beneficiaries in more than 4,900 plans that have failed since PBGC was established. The Corporation is in a difficult financial position today. The Single-Employer Program continues to see improvement; however, it still faces considerable risk. The Multiemployer Program faces a crisis that threatens the retirement security of millions of American workers, retirees, and their families. Without reforms, our Multiemployer Insurance Program - the backstop that is the last resort for retirees when a plan fails - is very likely to become insolvent in 2025, leaving participants and beneficiaries with significantly less than the level of benefits guaranteed by the PBGC. The alarm bells are ringing, and legislative changes are necessary. PBGC will continue to provide ongoing technical support to policymakers, stakeholders, and plan sponsors to help preserve plans and protect participants and their families. Congress should enact a long-term, sustainable bipartisan solution that appropriately balances the interests of retirees, workers, taxpayers, plans, employers, and unions in improving retirement security for hard-working Americans and their families. I look forward to working with all stakeholders - the White House, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Commerce, Congress, the multiemployer plan community, workers, employers, unions, and retirees - to find a responsible legislative solution. Another priority at PBGC is updating technology. In FY 2019, PBGC took responsibility for the benefits of more than 103,000 participants in newly trusteed plans. In order to provide the highest level of customer support, PBGC is modernizing its benefits payments processing and financial systems. In addition to improved customer service and productivity, a goal of IT modernization is to give PBGC the flexibility to handle any future legislative changes that may impact our Multiemployer Program. Mitigating data loss is another critical priority. As technology advances, there is evidence that attacks are occurring more frequently. We have begun to build a robust insider threat program and have formally established a crossdepartmental working group to update policies, procedures and technology. This will better protect data from inadvertent or intentional loss or misuse and enable us to effectively respond to insider threats. The Corporation has also launched a data loss prevention tool to prevent data leakage and monitor unusual activity. I am proud to lead PBGC's talented staff, who are passionate about the Corporation’s mission. PBGC's team of committed professionals understand that what they do has a real impact on people. I look forward to successfully leading PBGC to provide the highest-level of customer support to workers and retirees, ensure its viability, and help it prepare for the future. Gordon Hartogensis Director November 15, 2019
From their annual report : ,,The net financial position of the Multiemployer Program deteriorated during FY 2019 to $65.2 billion, a record negative net position. Absent changes in law, the Multiemployer Program is likely to run out of money during FY 2025.'' All the crap is highlighted in their annual, while important stuff is almost invisible, zero chances to navigate for an older person, not that one would do so. Don't understand this tho : ,,Financial Soundness and Financial IntegrityThe Corporation protects the pensions of over 35 million people whose plan benefits are valued in excess of $3 trillion.'' They're managing assets worth of $3 trillion ?
People think the market is just gonna turn right back up and everything will be even better. There's gonna be a solvency crisis.
No worries the fed will bail out the pensions as well. Everyone gets free trillions. I mean they have to in order to get the markets back up and prop up everything. Remember there is no such thing as failure, there can never be with so many people relying on the system.
Yeah. Its not a joking matter anymore. I mean it never was, but we can laugh at traders that lose money... not so with people who know zilch about WS. And they're the majority. This is bad bad juju. Lets hope we find a cure. Oh we'll survive, but the financial devastation is going to change everything we've come to know and take for granted. I'm afraid we've not seen anything yet. The numbers are gonna start pouring in.
Vanzy, obviously there is going to be pain, but the system needed a purge, corporate greed was getting out of hand, maybe this was required to get people to think about other things besides money. Also if the West can disengage from China which I hope, we'll get some of our priorities back such as looking after our own interests rather than China's.