Politics Archives - Page 2 of 2

New Jersey Stole From the Police Pension and Gave It to Teachers

Imagine you are a police officer in New Jersey. You put your life on the line to keep the citizens of the state safe. When you are not risking bodily injury, you have to deal with all kinds of unpleasant situations like evictions, traffic stops, or looking for suspects with outstanding warrants for their arrest. All you want is a secure pension when you retire. How would you feel if you discovered that New Jersey stole from the police pension to shore up the failing teachers’ pension? Continue reading “New Jersey Stole From the Police Pension and Gave It to Teachers”

Most Public Pension Investment Assumptions Are Impossible

Looking at the latest New Jersey pension performance report made me realize how doomed pensions are for average people in America. If you work in the public sector, you need to be using a 403b and IRA to shelter as much as you can for your golden years. I seriously doubt all but the strongest funds will be able to pay their obligations in 30 years when many Millennial Moola readers will retire. This is mostly due to impossible public pension investment assumptions, and I have the numbers to prove it. Continue reading “Most Public Pension Investment Assumptions Are Impossible”

St. Louis Tried to Give Away the Arch To Keep the Rams

The City of St. Louis dodged a major bullet in recent months as Rams Owner Stan Kroenke opted to move his team to Los Angeles. City leaders were perplexed as to why the billionaire declined when St. Louis tried to give away the Arch. They also promised him power over local tax rates, giving the man the power to charge local taxpayers whatever he liked to increase his net worth. The city also suggested laying off half of its police force if the extra money involved would sway the benevolent Rams owner. Obviously, I am joking a little. However, the truth is not as far from what I wrote as you would think. Continue reading “St. Louis Tried to Give Away the Arch To Keep the Rams”

New Jersey Bonds Are Like Chris Christie at a Trump Rally

Fake. Duplicitous. Phony. Surreal appearance underlying the dark truth of the willingness to take advantage of anyone in its way. I could be talking about Chris Christie’s support of Donald Trump. Unfortunately, I’m not. If you take a look at trading levels, there are a lot of individual investors out there that could lose their shirt when New Jersey bonds default. I’ve written two pieces on the coming disaster of New Jersey’s finances, here and here. Sometime in the next 10 years, the state will have no money to pay its bills. The scary part is, the bond market is completely ignoring it. There are people today paying premium dollars for bonds that could be close to worthless in 10 years. The rating agencies and other institutional investors are wrong because there has never been a looming financial crisis quite like this before. Here’s the evidence. Continue reading “New Jersey Bonds Are Like Chris Christie at a Trump Rally”

Billionaire Is the New Four Letter Word In American Politics

When Bernie Sanders talks about ‘the billionaire class,’ he speaks in a similar tone that an actor in an R rated movie would say the F word. He has clearly hit a nerve in American politics and is performing shockingly well in the polls. Wages have not risen with productivity, and the wealth gains among the working class pale in comparison to those of the top 1%. America’s top 25 hedge fund managers make more money than all the kindergarten teachers in America. Mitt Romney’s tax rate is not even 15%, and Warren Buffet pays less in taxes than his secretary. For all these reasons, we should tax the rich at confiscatory levels and put their heads on figurative pikes right? Billionaire is the new four letter word, but it shouldn’t be. Here’s why. Continue reading “Billionaire Is the New Four Letter Word In American Politics”

Hillary Is Influenced By Her Paid Speeches

I’m not in the tank for Bernie or Hillary. I would describe myself as a Republican leaning Libertarian. That said, I love following political races and enjoyed the Democratic debate this past Thursday. One of the most contentious moments was when Hillary accused Bernie of attack by insinuation, saying that he is calling her ‘bought.’ For those that don’t follow politics, the issue is whether Hillary is influenced by her paid speeches. She has made millions of dollars from these engagements since leaving office. Let’s take a look at why Sanders has been able to make this such a big issue in the Democratic race for President and how lessons from this can apply to your everyday life. Continue reading “Hillary Is Influenced By Her Paid Speeches”

New Jersey Will Have a $10 Billion Hole In Its Budget In 10 Years

My goal here at Millennial Moola is to bring readers financial articles they won’t get anywhere else. While this site’s target audience is millennials, I’ll write about anything if I deem it relevant to the financial health of Americans in general. It’s for that reason I want this week to be focused on the failing financial health of the state of New Jersey. While New Jersey is the worst actor, there will be smaller crises like this one all over the nation over the coming years because of the failure of politicians to make the payments for the benefits they’ve promised to public employees. I estimate that New Jersey will have a $10 Billion hole in its budget by 2026, with no way to pay it besides drastically increases taxes, cutting public retiree benefits, or defaulting on its billions of dollars in municipal debt. Continue reading “New Jersey Will Have a $10 Billion Hole In Its Budget In 10 Years”

New Jersey is a Financial Disaster About to Explode

Don’t trust this guy. The math he uses is totally wrong. Thanks to source.

A pension crisis of epic proportions is unfolding in New Jersey right now, but if all you listened to was the presidential campaign trail you’d assume it’s the best managed state in the nation. In fact, New Jersey is a financial disaster. I’m a firm believer that you can’t just worry about your own financial situation as a millennial. You have to look around you and see what’s going on because if you don’t you could wake up one day and wonder how your taxes got to be sky high, or your city services aren’t being delivered, or how people aren’t getting their pensions. It is with this thought in mind that I want to tell you that New Jersey’s pension funds are projected to be totally broke by 2027. By my own calculation, I find the pensions will be empty by 2025. While this problem has been building over the past decade, Christie and his administration have misrepresented the fact that they’ve placed the state on the path to financial ruin by making one of the lowest pension contributions in the country. Now, Jersey’s pensions are about 50% funded using their own ridiculously high expectations for investment returns on their pension fund and the payments the state needs to make to catch up are not being made, so the funding ratio is going to continue to plummet. Let’s find out how this is happening and what you can do to protect yourself if you or anyone you know happens to live in New Jersey. Continue reading “New Jersey is a Financial Disaster About to Explode”

The Real Reason Donald Trump Is Running for President

[Editor’s note: When I wrote this back in August 2015, I had no idea that the Republican party would fail to stop Trump from winning the nomination. I stick with my initial assessment of his candidacy. The real reason Donald Trump is running for President is money. He also loves the fame that comes with it, but that is only a sideshow compared to the main focus of the Donald, shoring up his brand dependent net worth.]

Though the polls put in the front of the pack, Donald Trump does not want to be President of the United States. At the very least, he knows that’s not a realistic possibility. The real reason Donald Trump is running for President has everything to do with money. He wants nothing to do with “making America great again.” Continue reading “The Real Reason Donald Trump Is Running for President”