The brief’s key findings are:
- During 2014, public plans adopted new accounting standards for reporting purposes but continued to use the traditional standards for funding purposes.
- The traditional funded ratio rose from 72 percent in 2013 to 74 percent in 2014 – the first improvement since the financial crisis.
- Required contributions continued to climb in 2014, but plans stepped up their payments from 82 percent to 88 percent of the required amount.
- The outlook for the next several years suggests continued steady improvement in funding unless plans experience lower than assumed asset returns.