Pension Rights Center: Pension Publications | Reports

Reports on Public Pension Plans

In it for the Long Haul: The Investment Behavior of Public Pensions (National Institute on Retirement Security, November 2008). A new analysis of public pension investment data indicates that public plans exhibit prudent investment behavior – even during volatile market conditions.

Look Before You Leap: The Unintended Consequences of Pension Freezes (National Institute on Retirement Security, October 2008). With the economy becoming weaker, many state and local governments will be facing fiscal challenges in the months and years ahead. These challenges will undoubtedly prompt governments to carefully examine all aspects of their budgets, including pension costs for state and local workforces. This brief explores important factors public employers should keep in mind when making decisions about their retirement programs.

National Compensation Survey: Retirement Benefits in State and Local Governments in the United States, 2007 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, May 2008). This summary presents findings of the 2007 National
Compensation Survey (NCS) regarding detailed provisions
of retirement plans in State and local governments.

Why Does Funding Status Vary Among State and Local Plans? (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, May 2008). While state and local pensions as a group are about as well funded as plans in the private sector, significant variation exists. This brief aims to sort out why some plans are less well funded than others.

The Miracle of Funding by State and Local Pension Plans (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, April 2008). This brief examines three aspects of the funding of state and local pension plans — the regulatory environment under which they operate, their costs and funding requirements, and their current funding status.

What Do We Know About the Universe of State and Local Plans? (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, March 2008). This brief describes the population of public pension plans, reports on the investment performance of different types of public plans, and compares the investment performance of public and private plans.

State and Local Government Retiree Benefits: Current Funded Status of Pension and Health Benefits (Government Accountability Office, January 2008). The GAO was asked to examine: 1) the key measures of the funded status of retiree benefits and 2) the current funded status of retiree benefits. GAO analyzed data on public pensions, reviewed current literature, and interviewed a range of experts on public retiree benefits, actuarial science, and accounting.

Why Have Some States Introduced Defined Contribution Plans? (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, January 2008). Although defined benefit plans dominate the state and local sector, in the last decade twelve states have introduced some form of defined contribution plan. This brief describes this flurry of defined contribution activity, presents data on participation and assets to put the flurry into perspective, and identifies the factors that led to the changes occurring in the states where they did.

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