Rating the State Government Public Pension Plans in the US

Abstract

The government-sponsored pension plans in the US, mostly defined benefit (DB) pension plans, are severely underfunded. In this study we examine the current state of the public pension plans, and rate them based on their actuarial funding ratio, risky asset allocation, and other multiple variables using both a simple ranking and a principal component analysis method. We aim to help public employees/retirees understand the financial health of their pension plans, and to raise the public awareness of the pension Tsunami.