The brief’s key findings are:
- The market crash has hurt public pensions, and quick fixes aren’t feasible because:
- pension cuts for new hires take time to add up; and
- tax revenues have been hit hard by the recession.
- Fortunately, most plans do not face a liquidity crisis.
- Years to exhaustion depend on investment returns and concept. With 8 percent returns, most plans have:
- at least 15 years under “termination” concept.
- at least 30 years under “ongoing” concept.
- Notable exceptions include Connecticut SERS, Illinois SERS, Illinois Universities, Kentucky ERS, Louisiana Teachers, New York City Teachers, and Rhode Island ERS.