A plunging stock market is likely to result in a 1 to 3 percent pension cut for some 150,000 retired government workers in Wisconsin, the first reduction in pension payout in the retirement fund’s 26-year history.
While final figures won’t be calculated until January 2009, state officials have already sent out letters to retirees warning that pension checks might shrink. New payment levels take effect each May and are recalibrated annually.