Right now, the state of Michigan is messing with both! According to a new law that was passed in our state called Senate Bill 1040 or SB1040, all public school employees are going to have their pension plans altered (aka reduced). The best part is that they let you decide how – by choosing from one of four somewhat convoluted choices. Isn’t that nice – would you like to cut off your thumb, ear, or toe?
So being fresh on my mind, I’ve got a ton to say about the topic next week over a five-part post series.
Now even though you probably don’t live in Michigan, I want you to treat this situation as if it happened to you, your spouse, family member, friend, etc. Remember that change can happen to anyone of us. And as financial bloggers, we have an obligation to really challenge ourselves to make the best of the mess!
So please read along with me next week as I try to figure out which option will be the best for my family!
Link Love – Blogs You Should Check Out:
In case you missed them, here are a few great stories you should check out this weekend:
- Do you run your family finances like a business? You may want to after reading Average Joe’s post How to Fix Your Rotten “Get Out of Debt” Plan.
- Jessica from Mo Money Mo Houses fires back at the naysayers in Haters Gonna Hate: Dealing with Cyberbullying and Other Negativity from the Interwebs. Not only are the post and comments good, the gif image is hilarious.
- Girls can be so catty! L Bee posts an unbelievable story about gift card snubbing at The Great Gift Cards Debate.
- And then there was this really great, well-written post over at Club Thrifty called Should We Try to Leave Something Behind? Ha! That was my guest post! I’ll have to check my official blogging guide
, but I think this still counts as link love 🙂
, but I think this still counts as link love 🙂
Carnivals:
MyMoneyDesign was featured in the following personal finance carnivals this week:
- Canadian Finance Carnival #75
- Weekend Ramblings – September 22
- Carnival of MoneyPros
- Carnival of Retirement – 38th Edition
- Carnival of Financial Planning: The Marathon Edition
- 120 Square Foot Home, 480 Square Foot Homes and a Carnival
Thanks again to all my new and returning visitors. I really appreciate your support and hope you continue to enjoy my site!
Posts This Week:
1) My Cash Flow Plan – September 2012 Update
2) Economic Turnaround Slowly Creeps Back Around the World
3) Check Out My Guest Post “Should We Try to Leave Something Behind?” at Club Thrifty
4) Book Review: The Smartest Retirement Book You’ll Ever Read by Daniel R. Solin
5) Truly Leaving Something Behind By Preparing Your Safety Net
Image Credit: Unknown
That sucks but seems to be the way most states are going these days 🙁
I’ll be reading the series… time to wait for the first part!
Thanks Lance! Do you have anyone in your family that is an educator?
Sorry to hear that your wife’s benefits will be reduced, MMD! This proves that we are still struggling with our economy in general.
It also unfortunately shows how much little our society values educators in general.
That’s seriously messed up. Public school employees are generally already grossly underpaid for their work….don’t mess with their pensions. Does your union have anything to say about this?
Amen to that! Unfortunately, her Union was not able to fight this one since it was for all the State and not just her district. They usually do a good job of negotiating their contracts, but this one is kind of like trying to stop a stampede from coming at you.
Uck, that’s no good. I loved my trip up there this summer, but boo on the state of Michigan for this one.
I can’t wait! Pension math is always something I enjoy. Thanks for mentioning my little post.