New York and Connecticut have some the best and worst funded state pension plans in the country, respectively. According to the Pew Charitable Trust, New York has enough money to meet 90 percent of its retirement obligations to state workers. Connecticut has only 41 percent of the money needed.
Both pension funds ask state workers to kick in about the same amount. Both funds payout pretty well compared to the private sector. Both have long underfunded the system and assumed an unrealistic rate of return from a volatile stock market to make up for it.
The key difference between Connecticut and New York’s funds is how much the state, i.e., taxpayers, kick in. According to the Pew report, which uses 2016 data, New York taxpayers pay about 9 percent more than necessary and the state is on its way to a fully funded pension plan. Connecticut taxpayers, however, barely contribute enough to cover current obligations, much less make up for past deficits.
