2008-12-17blogspot.com

At the height of the property bubble, California's giant pension fund, Calpers, made a fateful decision: It aggressively poured money into real estate. As a result, today it's one of the biggest owners of undeveloped residential land in America.

Partly because of these investments, California Public Employees' Retirement System is struggling to avoid one of its worst annual declines since its 1932 inception. Calpers has lost almost a quarter of its assets since July 1, the start of the current fiscal year.



Comments:

desert m at 23:58 2008-12-17 said:
You have got to love this. I am not against public employees per se, but I am hideously opposed to California's high taxes. My buddy has taught high school for 14 years, and he told me that a fellow teacher retired to Carson City, Nevada. He brags about how the money he saves in state taxes from his California pension pay for his mortgage each month. What irony! Anyway, as a day trader, I live and die on my own merits each day, so I strongly dislike anyone with a sense of entitlement, and so many people choose a line of work just because they want great benefits. Well, those benefits come at someone else's expense. I pay nearly 800 bucks per month for health care for the family, plus state income taxes.

Bottom line, I can't wait to move to Nevada next year. I should have done it last. I am looking to buy in Vegas, as prices there are in free fall. But I will wait until April. Permalink

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