US Pensions Reaching a Breaking Point?

Joe Weisenthal of Business Insider reports, Bombshell Pension Vote Is About To Sink California Hundreds Of Millions Deeper Into The Red:

California recently got its budget situation under control, but everyone figures the state is still in serious financial trouble.

And this news won't help, though it was probably inevitable.

According to the Sacramento Bee, CalSTRS (the big teachers retirement fund) is set to vote on Friday whether or not it should reduce its annual investment returns estimate from 8% to 7.5%, a move that will add hundreds of million to state debts (since the pension is guaranteed, and public taxpayers are on the hook).

That would be a huge decision, if they do it. 8% has been the level set since 1995 (talk about a whole other era), and artificially high return estimates are how the pension systems aren't (on paper) even more insolvent than they already seem.

Michael Marois of Bloomberg reports, California Teachers' Pension Plan Weighs Lower Assumed Rate of Return: (more)