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The surging stock market in the late nineties lifted the funding level of most pension plans and led to plan management decisions that left them vulnerable to the stock market decline of 2000-2002. In this study, an analysis was conducted on the descriptive data of 51 state pension plans for the period 1998-2003 and it was found that overfunded plans were more likely to substantially increase benefits while simultaneously reduce contributions. This led to widespread underfunding and a need for sudden increase in contributions as market conditions grew worse and funding levels dropped sharply. This investment cycle emphasizes the need for more prudent surplus management strategies to protect pension plans from the consequences of stock market volatility.

The Age Partnership Group (APG) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently commissioned a number of studies under the general heading: ‘Extending Working Life’, as part of a national guidance campaign. The campaign aims to raise employers' awareness of flexible employment and retirement opportunities prior to the implementation of age legislation towards the end of 2006. In general this legislation will ensure that employers will no longer be able to recruit, train, promote or retire people on the basis of their age. As part of the DWP framework, the Institute of Gerontology at King's College London was asked to examine recurrent misconceptions about pension ages and retirement ages. These take the form of misunderstandings, confusions, and in some instances even fictions that are perpetrated via the media and sometimes by those organisations that hope to clarify matters around pensions. This work was aimed at a professional audience. Therefore the focus of this article is predominantly on practical rather than theoretical issues. However, the policy and practice implications that arise, when the most basic topics associated with pensions and retirement are not properly understood, are profound. These can affect people on the verge of pension age, as well as those who are attempting to plan for retirement and also their employers. Without a clear understanding of the facts about entitlement to a state pension, for instance, individuals and their employers may not pursue the opportunities open to them. In this article, the most salient of these misconceptions are examined and redressed. This was undertaken through an extensive literature review, which examined not only a wide range of media reports (from the press, internet and radio) but also encompassed government documents and academic papers. The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) in particular gave guidance and advice.

This descriptive study shows how the government-wide financial statements can be used, with adjustments, to provide evidence on a state's fiscal sustainability. We compute “adjusted total net assets” (AdjTNA), which equals a state’s assets (not including its capital assets) minus the state's liabilities and obligations, including the UAAL for pension and OPEB not reported on the Statement of Net Assets. AdjTNA provides information about a state’s ability to sustain its current fiscal structure, given its current financial resources. Primary results suggest that 40 states have a negative AdjTNA value, with a median -$6.7 billion per state (-$5,230 per household). Sensitivity analysis suggests 48 states have a negative AdjTNA value, with a median -$20.7 billion per state (-$16,200 per household). The paper discusses the important policy implications of these results.

There is significant variation in the way state-administered pension systems are structured in the United States. Some states, for example, consolidate their pension activity into a few larger systems while others sponsor several smaller ones. In this paper we (1) identify arguments in favor of and against system consolidation, (2) measure levels of consolidation in state-administered pension systems, and (3) use logistic regression to examine whether levels of consolidation are associated with indicators of the financial health of state pensions. Our results provide preliminary support for claims that the size and concentration of pension activity are positively associated with measures of the financial health of state pensions.

Considers the way in which UK and American pension schemes are structured for women’s poverty and social exclusion in later life. Analyses recent trends in women’s employment and the impacts on current pension structures. Looks at the impact of different pension schemes and goes on to cover the effect on different classes and ethnicities. States that childcare is currently uncrecognised within pension systems as it is unwaged work and can lead to serious adverse financial impacts on women undertaking this role.

The objective of this paper is to examine whether the financial satisfaction (FS) of a state’s residents is affected by the funding ratio of the state’s public pension.

A multilevel hierarchal probit model that control for the funding ratio at the state level and its resident’s FS at the individual level was used to determine how a one-unit increase in funding ratio of a state’s pension plan affected the degree of FS experienced by the individual residing within that state.

The marginal effect from the probit model estimated suggest that a state’s pension plan funding ratio does affect the degree of FS experienced by its residents.

This study only examined data from 2015, thus, future research should consider examining this question via longitude studies, perhaps a survivor model.

States that fail to address their pension plan’s funding ratio may be exposing their residents to negative externality that could potentially influence an individual’s choice to relocate to another state that is not facing similar issues.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, the current body of research has yet to address and/or research the externalities associated with the underfunding of public pension plans throughout the USA. This paper combined two unique sets of publicly available data from all 50 states along with a sample of its residents to examine how public policy associated with state and/or local government pension affect its residents.

Public pension plans in the U.S. are seriously underfunded, especially following the financial market crisis of 2008-2009 which resulted in large investment losses. However, funding levels vary widely across plans. Pension boards of trustees make key management decisions in pension systems and these decisions have significant effects on funded levels, yet our empirical knowledge of board management is limited. This study explores the effect of board composition on pension funding levels. Existing theoretical debates lead to differing expectations, and previous studies have mixed results. Our research uses a panel data set of large public pension plans from 2001-2009. We also collect data for pension board composition from this time period. We find that increasing political appointees and employee members on the board increases the funding performance of the pension system.

The past few years have witnessed the rise of local ballot measures in California to limit public employee retirement benefits. What has happened to pension plans in California? Why is there such an attitude change towards public pensions? This paper, based on a survey of California cities, intends to investigate if public pensions have become unsustainable particularly in the face of the recent recession. The research shows city governments in California are facing both financial and social issues concerning their pension plans. To deal with the problems, cities have adopted strategies to reduce pension benefits, increase employee contributions, cut costs in other areas, and take other measures. Cities also have seen the use of the initiative process to control pension costs, balance their budgets and maintain fiscal sustainability.

This paper analyzes the impact of economic downturns on the revenue and expense sides of city financing for the period 2003 to 2009 using a convenience sample of the audited end of year financial reports for thirty midsized US cities. The analysis focuses on whether and how quickly and how extensively revenue and spending directions from past years are altered by recessions. A seven year series of Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) data serves to explore whether citiesʼ revenues and spending, especially the traditional property tax and core functions such as public safety and infrastructure withstood the brief 2001 and the persistent 2007 recessions? The findings point to consumption (spending) over stability (revenue minus expense) for the recession of 2007, particularly in 2008 and 2009.