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What??? Mr. Upbeat, Tony Robbins, Warns of Gloom
Don, SP meant "Lurch" from the Adams Family!! ================= Lurch-I had no idea how to spell it, but yes, that is who I was referencing Robbins to, Lurch, the 7 ft monster (but lovable monster) from "The Adams Family" TV series of the 60's. BTW-6'7 or 7', when you're that tall it is all the same to the average American males who is 5'9..............— August 26, 2010 1:35 p.m.
And Here Are Employees Who Bought Years They Didn't Serve
I too wonder why PSYC are allowed. If it takes 10, 15, 20 whatever the number of years it takes to vest-then that should be a HARD number that must be met.— August 26, 2010 11:53 a.m.
What??? Mr. Upbeat, Tony Robbins, Warns of Gloom
Obviously Tony is a very well educated man and he is running a business when the times change your business needs to change or you fail. ======================= Tony Robbins is a FRAUDSTER (did I spell that right??), who peddles "self help/motivational" snake oil to the ignorant. BTW-if you ever see Learch in person he is like 7 feet tall. And does anyone know if he still owns that home in Del Mar "the Castle"- sitting up top off of Crest????— August 26, 2010 11:49 a.m.
Buffett Stock Picker Simpson, Formerly of RSF, Retiring
The key question is whether the politicians who passed this legislation in the late 1970s knew that public and private defined benefit pension plans would be going broke in the next century, and there had to be something to replace them with. ============= No, there is no way anyone could have predicted the downfall of private sector organized labor in the 70's (nor the rise of public sector unions from the 80's to present). The 401K was originally a supplement to the DB pensions, but has morphed into the DC pension. I know most companies do not even match a 401K anymore, none offer a DB and the few who do match the 401K limit it to a very small amount today, usually 3% or less, used to be 6%. Compare that reality to the SD City pension where they get not only the gold plated DB pan, but the optional SPSP 401K DC plan with a 6% match. The "OPTIONAL" SD City SPSP plan ALONE is better than 95% of the private sector plans, that is my guess.— August 26, 2010 7:30 a.m.
And Here Are Employees Who Bought Years They Didn't Serve
This scam is as big a fraud as the DROP scam. I had heard that the so called "cost neutral" SYC purchases ended up covering only 10% of the true costs-don't know if that was true or not, but I know it was not cost neutral, same with DROP. Notice how all the leeches sucked up the maximum allowed-5 years!— August 25, 2010 11:03 p.m.
County Unemployment Rate Jumps to 10.8%
California had a 19% decrease in taxable sales in the second quarter of 2009 (most recent stats just released), compared to a year earlier was the largest ever recorded, according to the August edition of Economic Perspective from the State Board of Equalization. To show how dire that three-month period was in this state, the second steepest drop was the first quarter of 1958, when California taxable sales dropped 7.3%. And that would have been on a much smaller dollar amount. If any gov employee thinks htye are going to keep collecting 6 figure pensions for the next 10-30 years in so called "retirement", they need to wake up. This state is bankrupt.— August 25, 2010 4:31 p.m.
Hawk Hunter
Cool pic!!!!! Very interesting story as well, a falcon with a tracking device....glad the owner found the bird.....this was in Carlsbad????— August 25, 2010 3:35 p.m.
Deflation Could Heat Up Pension War
Both funds carry an assumed rate of return that Mike Stolper, San Diego investment advisor, calls “delusional, an exercise in fantasy.” The City’s is 7.75 percent a year, and the County’s is going from 8.25 percent to 8 percent next year. ========================= In May 2008, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn delivered important remarks on this obscure but consequential issue of ROI: "Public pension benefits are essentially bulletproof promises to pay. The only appropriate way to calculate the present value of a very-low-risk liability is to use a very-low-risk discount rate. However, most public pension funds calculate the present value of their liabilities using the projected rate of return on the portfolio of assets as the discount rate. This practice makes little sense from an economic perspective [and] pushes the burden of financing today's pension benefits onto future taxpayers, who will be called upon to fund the true cost of existing pension promises." These idiots running gov pension funds tha are loading up on stocks, or even worse jumping in bed with hedge funds, need to be tarred and feathered and run out of town on pitch forks.....— August 25, 2010 3:29 p.m.
County Unemployment Rate Jumps to 10.8%
Part-timers who want to work full-time are included in the underemployed calculation, ================= The most recent stats show CA's U-6 UE rate (part timers + long term UE) at 22%; http://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt10q1.htm . CA (along with MI) have the highest U-6 UE in the entire country. At least we lead the nation in one area.— August 25, 2010 7:36 a.m.
Get Used to Unemployment
The Mexican immigrants have taken over some meatpacking towns because Americans won't take those demeaning jobs with low wages. It happens in other industries, too. =========== I don't want to get into a race debate on these issues, but will make one comment (no, two actually). #1) The reason Americans are reluctant to take jobs today in the agri/construction/hospitality/landscaping/meat packing/etc. industries is because wages have been driven down to the point that the income is not enough to live or survive on, forcing the meployee to look for a higher paying job elsehwere. The reason for that is the influx of unskilled immigrant workers. If the employer did not have these unskilled immigrant workers they would be forced to may a more equitable/market wage. Would costs go up-yes, but I don't know if that is bad. #2) Mexico used to OWN CA-all of it, to the OR border, along with AZ, New Mexico and parts of Utah. Escondido was a Mexican "Ranchero" a 150 years ago. And the native Americans were here BEFORE Mexico was. So these comments about who was here first have a back end to them. Indians and meicans can make the same claims about who was here first.— August 25, 2010 7:30 a.m.