A new report from the Pew Foundation – Trillion Dollar Gap – examines the parlous state of pension funds. $3.35 trillion is necessary to fund current obligations, but the funds only contain $2.35 trillion. According to this report, New Jersey has seriously underfunded its pension plans and the report rates New Jersey as one of eight states “…having failed to make any meaningful progress toward adequately funding their pension obligations.(p.12) On p.25, there is a special section on New Jersey outlining the state’s decline in annual contributions: “…the state never exceeded 30 percent of the required contribution.” Additional information can be found at: States Sink in Benefits Hole (Wall Street Journal), US States Face Wide Gap in Benefits Funding (Financial Times), States Short $1 Trillion to Fund Retiree Benefits (CNN), and Eight States Have Shortchanged Pensions (New York Times). A one-page fact sheet on New Jersey is here.
