As the nation continues to struggle with “The Great Recession”, the public is receiving a lot of false information regarding public servants’ pensions, particularly here in California.

According to a recent report from the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) the truth is that public employee pension plans are performing well and are costing taxpayers a fraction of what they have been led to believe. 

FACT: Pension assets are recovering quickly
NASRA's research found that nationwide public pension system assets in 2010 were up 35% - to $2.93 trillion - from their 2009 low due to the market crash, contrary to what many opponents of fair retirement benefits would have you believe.

FACT: Taxpayer contributions are minimal
According to the report, NASRA found that the percentage of state dollars used to help fund public employee pension payments is much lower than you may have been led to believe. In California, for example, the state’s entire contribution to retirement for all state employees is less than five percent of the state budget.

FACT: Public employees are funding their retirements
Most public employees contribute between 5 and 10 percent of their wages to fund their retirement. Their contributions combined with investment earnings fund about 75% of public pension revenue.

California state employees have already agreed to “tighten their belts” and contribute more to their own retirement funds. Don’t buy into the hype that slashing or eliminating retirement benefits for our state employees will fix our state’s budget gap!

For more information on how state worker retirement plans function, see NASRA's press release regarding the report.