Pensions don't deserve the bad rap

News articles around the state have been beating up on public pension benefits. The direct or indirect message seems to be that pensions are somehow, in some way, a bad thing.

Ask any retiree. Ask a retired family member what he or she thinks of a pension that may provide a modest but dependable benefit. Pensions are good whether they exist in the private or public sector. They provide financial support for individuals who are not working or can no longer work due to age or disability. A reasonable pension benefit, coupled with Social Security, Medicare and personal savings, means your 80-year-old aunt or uncle does not need financial support from you. Good? Bad?

High-cost, underutilized and misunderstood 401(k) plans provide little security in difficult financial times (just when you need them most). If your 401(k) was a 201(k) and now maybe a 301(k), can you effectively plan for retirement? Good? Bad?

Let's face it, you and I are growing older by the day. We need to fund our retirement. Your employer, whether in the public or the private sector, has been a partner in that planning by helping you fund your retirement benefit. Now more than ever we need the best methods to achieve a decent, independent standard of living when we are too old to work. Pension plans are that tool. Pensions are good.

Louis W. Kosiba

Executive Director

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund