{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Paul Truesdell Podcast","title":"Pound Salt Chicago","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":923,"description":"not become a federal bailout.The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is a federal insurance agency that protects certain retirement benefits in private-sector defined benefit pensions when an employer’s plan fails. PBGC operates two insurance programs—single-employer and multiemployer—and it pays benefits up to legal limits when a covered plan is terminated without enough assets. PBGC is funded primarily by insurance premiums paid by plan sponsors and investment income, not by regular appropriations from general federal tax revenue. PBGC does not insure 401(k), 403(b), or other defined contribution plans because those accounts are owned by workers and depend on contributions and investment results, not a fixed lifetime promise from an employer.Equally important, PBGC coverage does not extend to government plans. Federal civil service pensions, as well as state, county, and municipal pensions, are outside PBGC’s jurisdiction. Those systems are the legal and financial responsibility of their sponsoring governments and, ultimately, their taxpayers. Church plans are generally exempt as well unless they have elected coverage. In short, PBGC is a safety net for private-sector defined benefit promises. It is not a rescue line for public pension systems.That distinction matters right now. Chicago’s fiscal problems are well known, but the city’s pension funds are approaching a breaking point. A recent incident made that clear: a computer-related delay in property-tax collections left the Firemen’s Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago without cash to meet current retirement checks. To plug the hole, Mayor Brandon Johnson advanced $28 million in short-term city loans to prevent forced asset sales. This was not a market crisis. It was a cash-flow failure in a chronically underfunded system.The broader picture is worse. Chicago’s four public pension funds rank among the most underfunded in the nation and carry more pension debt than most states. The city’s pension...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/115-XsjkdwCpJ99xv-8oZ76t6jr8ScWEC5MYSKzL0ig/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS82MTUx/OWRiNTc0NTk0Y2Nk/M2VjYTliMGVhN2Zm/YTZkZi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}