Opinion: Pension divestment too risky

Don’t play politics with pension

I am a U.S. Navy veteran living on a fixed income. Most months, my rent and food are derived from my monthly check. So I wholeheartedly agree with State Treasurer Beth Pearce when he says the state retirement fund’s purpose is to support its pensioners, not enact social policy.

Gov. Shumlin’s push for divestment of coal and ExxonMobil stocks from the Vermont retirement system blatantly ignores the key responsibilities and duties of the state government to its citizens.

The stated mission of the State Treasurer’s Office is to administer investment policies for the benefit of Vermont State Retirement Systems, not play politics with the livelihoods of hard working pensioners. And if political leverage is what Gov. Shumlin and others are looking for, then a seat at the table with these fossil fuel companies is a better way to hold them accountable.

From an economic point of view, divestment would create an enormous financial risk to retirees, while having no tangible effect on the targeted companies as the sold assets would just be bought up by the next person. Not only is this call for divestment inconsistent with the duty to pensioners, it also opens the floodgates for other legislators and government officials to also use pension funds as a means to their own political ends.

I stand in agreement with Pearce in that legislating investments does not align with the retirement fund’s principal purpose to support its pensioners. The future of retirees should not be gambled on a symbolic social statement.

LAWRENCE STAAB

Jericho