Defined Benefits

A deal that may help the city speed the end of the biggest-ever U.S. municipal bankruptcy, which is threatening city pensions.

In the last 10 years, the use of matching contributions has nearly doubled, with more than three-quarters of the FTSE 100 now using matching contributions.

The swaps, tied to pension obligation bonds issued in 2005 and 2006, were designed to protect against rising interest rates by requiring the banks to pay the city if rates rose above a certain level.

No changes have been proposed to city pensions, which the commission said now consume 18 percent of the city budget, up from 3 percent in 2003.

The second-largest U.S. city relies on an overly optimistic forecast of 7.75 percent annual returns for its pension fund, causing the gap between available assets and obligations to widen, according to the report by the L.A. 2020 Commission.

The proposals were quickly dismissed by Detroits emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, who said any sale would not only kill a proposal to pump $816 million into the citys underfunded pension systems, it would also hurt residents.

The new deal would increase to $916 million the amount the plan would contribute to reduce cuts to retiree benefits.

A study found that in general, new Calpers members need to save between $373 and $1,480 more each month or work 2.5 to 5 years longer to retire with the same income as members hired before the pension reform act.