A BRIEF HISTORY OF OUR WISCONSIN RETIREMENT SYSTEM

I have just checked WREA.net (Wisconsin Retired Educators Association) website and learned some interesting things about the history of our Wisconsin Retirement System.

Did you know?

• In 1950 there were more than 85 public pension funds in Wisconsin and most of them were poorly funded?
• In the early 1950s, the average monthly annuity for a retired teacher was $35?
• In 1966, Wisconsin and Tennessee had the two worst public pension funds in the nation?
• Wisconsin now has one of the best retirement systems in the country?
• The Wisconsin Retirement System is well-funded at roughly 99.9%?
• That we have an automatic dividend process tied to investment returns?
• Any increases to pensions work like compound interest?
• That in other states, increases must be approved by the legislature or are tied to cost of living increases and are usually capped at 3%?
• There was a raid on your pension fund in 1987?
• That the Wisconsin Retirement System is very complicated and your pension is as unique as you are?
• That until 2000, Wisconsin annuitants had seen tremendous increases in their annuities, averaging about 6% a year in the fixed fund and about 5% a year in the variable fund?
• That there are continual threats to the pension fund and WREA monitors and opposes them?
• That WREA puts retires first?

That throughout WREAs 50-plus history, we have always worked to support retiree interests? Check out the WREA.net website for more information.

It is necessary to keep watch over our Wisconsin Retirement System.