Pension math and bond math are different
Troy, MI March 5, 2013 – “There’s a potential problem with the math of the Detroit Bankruptcy Plan,” says Leon LaBrecque, a native Detroiter, and JD, CPA, CFP, CFA. Leon is the Chief Strategist and founder of LJPR, a firm managing $626 million in assets*. “Pension math and bond math are different. A bond has a specific legal obligation that is written and enforceable. If I lend the city of Detroit $1,000, they agree to pay me back my money at a maturity date and pay interest in the meantime.
The liability is known, and measurable: the city owes me $1,000. In a pension, the city owes an annual obligation to fund the liabilities of the plan. The liabilities of the plan are calculated using a complicated formula. Basically, the liability of a pension plan is calculated based on:
- The amount promised the retirees (their monthly pension);
- An estimate of how long the plan has to pay it (the mortality assumption), and
- The rate of return the plan will make to fund it (the interest rate assumption).”
“According to the EM, the unfunded liabilities of the pension system total $3.5 billion. In February, when the state of Michigan’s team came in, the unfunded liabilities were $650 million. The city’s actuary, which represents literally hundreds of municipal pension systems and applies a rigorous set of established actuarial standards, reported Detroit’s general fund as 82.8% funded, and the police and fire pension as 99.9% funded,” continued LaBrecque.
“The EM hired a different actuary, and that actuary recalculated the pension obligation using a different set of assumptions, which they called a ‘very rough preliminary guestimate,’ and then recharacterized the pension obligations bonds (secured bonds to fund the pension) as unsecured bonds outside of the pension (not the normal practice),” said LaBrecque. “That new calculation adjusted the assets way down to 32% for the general fund and 50% for the police and fire fund. This put the pensions below the 80% threshold to allow them to be under EM control.”
“The plans pay this liability over the lifetimes of the pensioners, not all at once, or even on a schedule like bonds. During that time frame, the plan’s assets make money and retirees pass away. Depending on those factors, we can determine where the liability goes. If the plan makes more on its investments than the assumptions, the liability reduces, or even vanishes,” says LaBrecque.
“Pension math is tricky, and I don’t think people’s financial lives should be at the stake of a single calculation. The average Detroit general retiree gets a pension of $19,000, which by my standard is very modest, and to cut that by $6,460, plus make them pay all but $125 of their retiree health care is devastating,” continued LaBrecque. “I guess I can liken this to an appraisal on a house. We get one appraisal, then another one comes in way lower. Do you automatically accept the lower number (in the case of liabilities, the higher number?) To me, I’d like to see a real version of what the unfunded liabilities really are before the people who worked hard for the city get a haircut. Not only that, if the plan’s assets are invested right, there may end up being no liability. Let’s prove the figures. The retirees deserve it.”
Leon C. LaBrecque is the managing partner and founder of LJPR, LLC, an independent wealth management firm located in Troy, Michigan that manages $626 million in assets (as of 12/31/2013). Leon is a practicing attorney, CPA, CFP® and CFA that has specialized in servicing individuals, families, and small businesses in the areas of financial, estate, and tax planning for over 32 years.
LaBrecque’s extensive career includes previous work at Arthur Andersen, Plante Moran, and as the Department Chair of Finance and Economics at Walsh College where he created the Master of Science in Finance program. He has also authored several proprietary retirement planning programs for CalPERS, the states of Montana, and Washington, and corporate clients including General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Lucent, and AT&T, among others. LaBrecque’s specialties include investment management for foundations and non-profit organizations, financial planning for automotive employees and retirees, and retirement planning for police officers and firefighters. Leon LaBrecque’s direct e-mail is leon.labrecque@ljpr.com.
