Sacramento Bee: University of California targets pension benefits

[marmar]

Confronting a $24 billion unfunded liability in its retirement plan, leaders of the University of California are poised to make significant changes to pension and health care benefits for the system's retirees.

The first step comes Thursday, when UC's governing board of regents is scheduled to vote on a proposal to increase the amount current employees and the university contribute to the retirement plan. The payments would go up over the next two years, so that by July 2012, employees would pay 5 percent of their salaries to the retirement plan and UC would pay 10 percent.

That's up from the 2 percent employees pay now and 4 percent paid by the university.

The next steps will come in the months ahead, as UC President Mark Yudof considers a series of recommendations on overhauling retirement benefits for employees who join UC after 2013.

Under the proposals, new employees would have to wait longer to retire and would receive smaller pensions than current employees receive. Yudof also is considering changing eligibility requirements for retiree health benefits so that those who retire earlier or have worked fewer years at the university would have to pay more for their care.

Regents are expected to vote on those changes by the end of the year. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/11/3020639/uc-targeting-retirement-benefits.html