Retirement

This survey by the Center and the TIAA-CREF Institute finds that only 19 percent of full-time public sector workers are very confident in their retirement income prospects, with many expressing concern about the impact of rising health care costs on current savings.

These fact sheets update the case studies in Strengthening State and Local Government Finances: Lessons for Negotiating Public Pension Plan Reforms (September 2011). Governments include Iowa, Oregon, Vermont, Gwinnett County (GA), Houston (TX), and Denver (CO).

This brief looks at the effects of the 2008-2009 stock market decline on state and local pensions and what may improve their funded status in the future.

This report offers lessons from five governments — Iowa, Oregon, Vermont, Gwinnett County (GA), and Houston (TX) — that have reformed their pension plans to make them more fiscally sustainable while still providing retirement security to their employees. It offers lessons for other reform-minded governments, on plan funding and governance, the importance of using good data from experts, communication, governance, and financial education.

This brief probes the question of what role union power has had in the public pension benefit levels.

Three new plans studied in Georgia, Michigan, and Utah combine elements of both defined benefit and defined contribution plans.

A sampling of states that have defined benefit plans — Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, Ohio, and Wisconsin

Pensions are a component of the debt structure, and the extent to which states make their Annual Required Contribution has a statistically significant—albeit modest—impact on the cost of debt.

The Center is working with public officials to review state and local government financial education programs for their employees, and is developing guiding principles and recommendations for its improvement.

Four pension systems — Delaware, Illinois Municipal, Iowa, and North Carolina — have maintained a funding ratio of more than 80 percent in their defined benefit plans, even after the economic downturn of 2008. Learn more about how they did it.