Event: November 2008 Meeting
Topic: Public Pension Crisis
Funding public pension systems today represents one of the greatest financial challenges, as well as one of the most significant budget issues for state and local governments. In fact, the unsustainable growth in pension funding requirements could easily crowd out opportunities for governments to invest in education, economic development, and health care. An inability to make these investments would cause immediate harm to the government’s citizens and jeopardize the government’s ability to sustain economic growth.
Recent studies paint a grim picture. One survey of 123 state retirement systems found that more than 90 percent of them are underfunded, that is, the states have not set aside enough money to cover their accrued pension obligations. This same report indicates that the total unfunded liability for these systems is in excess of $300 billion; which has likely now grown to more than $400 billion due to the recent market meltdown.
Illinois is unfortunately a perfect example of this problem. As of 6/30/08, the unfunded liability for the five state sponsored pension plans was in excess of $50 billion dollars.
Solving the public pension crisis requires action. Lance Weiss and Howard Freidin will discuss some of the strategies government policymakers must address to solve this challenge.
Speakers:
Lance Weiss is a Consulting Actuary in the Chicago office of Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Human Capital / Total Rewards practice. Lance has over 33 years of experience in employee benefits and retirement planning, with special emphasis on the design, funding, security, administration and implementation of qualified and nonqualified retirement and post-retirement medical programs. He is a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries and an Enrolled Actuary under ERISA. Lance was recently elected President of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries and is also on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Actuaries. He has a BS in Actuarial Science from the University of Illinois.
Howard Freidin is a Director in the Chicago office of Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Human Capital / Total Rewards practice. He has more than 30 years of experience as an actuarial consultant to both government and private sector organizations. He has provided extensive in-depth guidance, counsel, and advice to employee benefit plan sponsors on a wide variety of topics, including qualified and nonqualified retirement plans, postemployment plans, ESOPs, plan terminations, GASB calculations, strategic plan design, and compliance reviews. Howard is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, an Enrolled Actuary, a Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. He has a BS in Actuarial Science and Finance from the University of Illinois.
Date: Thursday, November 20, 2008
3:30 Registration / 4:00 Speakers / 5:00 Hors d’oeuvres reception
Location: Blue Cross & Blue Shield of IL, CAL Conference Room 8
300 E. Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60601