By Rob Nikolewski | New Mexico Watchdog
SANTA FE — Members of the Senate Finance Committee who thought New Mexico’s two state-sponsored pension plans are doing pretty well and just need some tweaking to stay financially secure received a splash of ice-cold water on Monday (Jan. 23) when two financial analysts said just the opposite.
“The numbers are actually worse than they appear,” said Sean McShea, a fixed-income portfolio manager forRyan Labs Asset Management out of New York City.
Senate Finance Committee members listen to pension discussion, 1/23/12
And Brad Day, a retired Albuquerque business owner who specialized in retirement pension plans, urged committee members to “get off the road we’re on now, which is a road to nowhere.”
The Educational Retirement Board (ERB) and thePublic Employees Retirement Assocation (PERA) comprise two state-supported pensions. In recent committee meeting hearings in the Roundhouse, leaders from the ERB and PERA acknowledged to lawmakers that adjustments need to be made to keep their plans solvent into the future as more and more baby boomers retire and say their respective boards and members are willing to refine their plans.
But McShea and Day painted a much bleaker picture Monday, saying changes on the margins are not enough.
“We all know there’s going to be a retirement crisis in 2020,” McShea said adding, “I think one day we’ll look at municipal debt and everything is fine but the next day we’ll have an epiphany and everything has changed for the worse.”
