Texas Pension Woes

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Date

2021-04-12

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Private Enterprise Research Center, Texas A&M University

Abstract

The unfunded liabilities from Texas many state and local defined benefit pension plans, or the amount a pension fund's assets cannot cover its liabilities, have snowballed over time and have recently reached unprecedented levels. In 2019, their collective assets were less than their liabilities by $86 billion and the funding ratio of their assets to liabilities was 77%. Although these numbers are concerning, they are based on governmental accounting methods that mask the true state of affairs. In policy study 2103, using data from 99 pension plans, authors Dennis W. Jansen, Liqun Liu, Carlos I. Navarro, and Andrew J. Rettenmaier analyze the pension funds in Texas though 2019. They calculate the pensions' liabilities and funding ratios using alternative discount rates and then discuss a range of potential reforms.

Description

Finance_

Keywords

Texas, pension, defined benefit, defined contribution, funding ratio, Finance_

Citation