MassPensions

Pension expenditures in the two largest public pension systems are on the rise in Massachusetts, so it's important to understand the factors behind the growth in annual payouts, including an increasing average pension and an increasing number of retirees.

Billions of dollars went to retirees in 2023 from the state's two largest pension funds. Not unexpectedly, the data show that the amount of money given to a specific retiree may depend on many factors outside of where the retiree used to work.

A recent study from economist Evgenia Gorina, published in the journal State and Local Government Review, found a positive relationship between a local government’s reliance on property taxes as a revenue source and how well-funded their pensions are. In other words, local...

Just recently Kathy Curran led an investigation into Massachusetts retirement boards’ wasteful use of public funds. Her investigative team found that while nearly all public retirement boards in Massachusetts are not on track to be fully funded for at least another decade, numerous...

Now anyone can become a local pension system expert…  A stitch in time saves nine. But how much will the hole unravel before the seamstress gets the call? We all know procrastination is a bad habit, but it’s far worse if the...

Actuarial assumption adjustments clarify which funds are troubled and which are more stable BOSTON – Almost five years after the stock-market bottom, Massachusetts public pension systems’ investments had not yet fully recovered to pre-crisis levels while liabilities increased to new records, leaving...

Actuarial assumption adjustments clarify which funds are troubled and which are more stable BOSTON – Almost five years after the stock-market bottom, Massachusetts public pension systems’ investments had not yet fully recovered to pre-crisis levels while liabilities increased to new records, leaving...