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Defined benefit pensions are the most secure form of retirement savings. This has been true for decades and is why cities and states have offered pensions to their public employees for more than a hundred years. Pensions also used to…
Last week we wrote about the various forms of legal protections that exist for public pensions in the United States. We noted that a majority of states (34) follow a contract rights approach to public pension benefits. One of the…
Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! As we do most weeks, we have gathered the best stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. This is the news you need to know in the…
Teachers, firefighters, and other public employees in Colorado are members of PERA, the Public Employees Retirement Association. This public pension plan covers most public employees in the state. It is also a Social Security substitute: most members of PERA do…
Public pension plans are authorized by the municipal or state government that offers the plan to its public employees. This means there is a wide range of variation about the specifics of public pensions from state to state. With thousands…
The attacks on public pension plans are constantly changing. Pension critics claim public employees need to be given a choice between defined benefit pension plans and 401(k)-style defined contribution plans. This is an unnecessary and risky choice. Public employees, like…
Today, thousands of workers and retirees rallied in Puerto Rico to protest ongoing austerity measures, including proposed cuts to public pensions. Puerto Rico’s public pensions have been threatened for years by the long-lasting debt crisis and other calamities to befall…
Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! As we do most weeks, we have gathered the best stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. This is the news you need to know in the…
The financial crisis and Great Recession had a devastating effect on public pension plans. On average, public pension plans lost about a quarter of the value of their assets due to the crisis. In the years since the recession, almost…
Today is Tax Day. We thought this would be a good time to re-post a blog post from two years ago that answered the question: how many tax dollars go to public pensions? Taxpayer contributions to public pensions represent a…
The fight to protect pensions in Kentucky has been long and drawn-out. Despite months of promises, Governor Bevin never called a special legislative session last year to address tax reform and public pensions. Earlier this year, members of the Kentucky…
Following the successful strike of teachers in West Virginia for higher pay, there has been increased focus on the longstanding issue of low pay and benefits for public school teachers. This is a critical issue that we’ve discussed before. One…