Work Till You Drop

[Joanne98]

Sydney Freedberg and Connie Humburg report that Florida stands to lose $1 billion because of Lehman Brother's bankruptcy:

A price tag is now emerging for what last year's collapse of investment giant Lehman Brothers could cost the state of Florida: more than $1 billion.

The losses could make Florida and its citizens among the biggest casualties in the biggest bankruptcy ever.

More than $440 million disappeared from the pension fund that pays benefits for some 1 million retirees and public employees.

Counties, cities and school districts face a loss of more than $300 million for roads, sewers and schools.

The state has $290 million less to pay for everything from hurricane claims to health care, community colleges and care for infants with disabilities.

While the general losses have been expected, this is the first public accounting of the magnitude of the Lehman-related public losses for Florida.

The outlook is bleak in bankruptcy court. In years to come, the state will be lucky to collect pennies on the dollar.

In an interview, even the ever-optimistic Gov. Charlie Crist could not muster a sunny side: "It is, to say the least, an unfortunate situation.''

Florida can kiss that money goodbye. By the time the lawyers get their cut, they will be fighting over scraps. How many other pension funds lost huge sums when Lehman went bankrupt?

Howard Silverblatt writes in BusinessWeek, PENSIONS: Work Till You Drop – If You Have A Job (thanks to Jack Dean for posting this on Pension Tsunami):

I’ll start with the bottom line – pensions are severely underfunded and they aren’t getting better fast. Last year the S&P 500 was $63 billion overfunded, with companies making only minor contributions, shrugging off the Q4,’07 3% equity loss and projecting an 8% 2008 pension gain.


The reality of the market however was devastation: a 37% loss for 2008 produced a 43% gap between what was expected and what was delivered. Funding went from $63 billion overfunded to $308 billion underfunded – a $372 billion turnaround in just one year. As a group, the S&P 500 went from 4% over funded to 22% underfunded. Only 21 issues were fully funded, with 29 between 90% and full, 54 between 80% and 90%, and 231 falling below the 80% mark. By comparison, at the end of 1999, when the market was 56% higher, 296 issues were fully funded.

http://pensionpulse.blogspot.com/2009/06/work-till-you-drop.html

[glowing]

1. That Lehman deal had a direct hand from our former Gov. Bush.

Everything that family touches brings only misery to others.

[BeFree]

2. Yeah

And I haven't seen this in the mass media? I wonder why?

Damn the M$M. %#@* Bushco!