Report: State, Local Gov’t Pension Funds Have More Unfunded Liabilities Than Corporate Plans

[Geee]

CNS News:

(CNSNews.com) – Pension plans for state and local government employees have more unfunded liabilities than corporate pension funds, which are held to a higher standard by the government, according to a March report entitled The Coming Pensions Crisis by Citi Global Perspectives & Solutions (GPS).

 

“In the United States, current unfunded corporate defined benefit commitments total approximately $425 billion. State and local government employee defined benefit pension plans have from $1 trillion to $3 trillion in unfunded commitments (depending on the discount rate used)....

 

“Unfortunately, while governments often impose genuine requirements for funding contributions on corporate sponsors, they rarely impose those standards on themselves,” the Citi report stated.

 

“For example, in the U.S., public plans frequently increase benefits but fail to make the appropriate contribution,” the report continued.