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Time to outlaw pension plans

The problem with pensions did not start with the advent of pension plans.

By Christopher Carosa | Updated on November 02, 2012

Bernard Madoff oversaw a $65 billion Ponzi scheme. For that, our divine justice system deemed he should serve a 150- year prison term. California Gov. Jerry Brown oversees a pension scheme that loses $240 billion a year. For that, voters might award him another four-year term.

Let’s put that $240 billion in perspective. If that annual loss alone was the gross national product of a country, that country would be the 35th wealthiest country in the world (according to 2010 UN data). Seen another way (based on the 2011 World Fact Book), this $240 billion in debt would rank the California Pension System the 25th most debt-laden country in the world.

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Christopher Carosa

Christopher Carosa

Chris Carosa has been writing a weekly article and monthly column for BenefitsPRO online and BenefitsPRO Magazine since 2011 and is a nationally recognized award-winning writer, researcher and speaker. He’s written seven books, including From Cradle to Retire: The Child IRA; Hey! What’s My Number? – How to Increase the Odds You Will Retire in Comfort; A Pizza The Action: Everything I Ever Learned About Business I Learned By Working in a Pizza Stand at the Erie County Fair; and the widely acclaimed 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions. Carosa is also Chief Contributing Editor of the authoritative trade journal FiduciaryNews.com and publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, a weekly community newspaper he founded in 1989. Currently serving as President of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and with more than 1,000 articles published in various publications, he appears regularly in the national media. A “parallel” entrepreneur, he actively runs a handful of businesses, including a small boutique investment adviser, providing hands-on experience for his writing. A trained astrophysicist, he also holds an MBA and has been designated a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor. Share your thoughts and story ideas with him through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christophercarosa/)and Twitter (https://twitter.com/ChrisCarosa).

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