Since the taxpayers could be compelled to make up the eventual shortfall the trustees of Detroit's pensions ignored their fiduciary duties. They did not follow the actual terms of the plans; instead, according to a report in the NY Times: Detroit's municipal pension fund made payments for decades to retirees, active workers and others above and beyond normal benefits, costing the struggling city billions of dollars and helping push it into bankruptcy, according to people who have reviewed the payments. The payments, which were not publicly disclosed, included bonuses to retirees, supplements to workers not yet retired and cash to the families of workers who died before becoming eligible to collect a pension, according to reports by an outside actuary and other people with knowledge of the matter. Let's look closer at the numbers. Detroit has nearly 12,000 retired general workers, who last year received pensions of $19,213 a year on average - hardly enough to drive a great...(Read Full Post)