The Milwaukee City Employees Retirement System, with an assets-to-liabilities ratio of 79 percent, has enough money on hand to pay beneficiaries for 13.4 years, according to a new ranking of public retirement funds from the Wirepoints website.
The retirement system ranked 71st on a list of 148 state and local retirement funds nationwide with at least $2 billion in assets, the website reported. The list, which includes pension systems in every state except Vermont, lists pension funds from fiscally weakest to strongest.
The Milwaukee City Employees Retirement System has plan assets of $5.22 billion and yearly payouts to beneficiaries of $390 million. The numbers are based on 2018 data, the most recent year for available data, according to Wirepoints, a website that focuses on economic commentary and Illinois government research.
Some of the weakest funds will see their declines accelerated by the Covid-19 crisis as a result of the stock market’s recent plunges, according to Wirepoints. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, the nation’s public pension funds had shortfalls amounting to $5 trillion in 2018, the study says.
The states with the worst-off pension funds are Kentucky, Illinois, New Jersey and Connecticut, according to Wirepoints. Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Washington and the District of Columbia have some of the healthiest retirement systems, the study found.
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State and Local Pension Fund Ranking, From Weakest to Strongest
| Plan Name | State | Funded Ratio | Plan Assets (in Billions of Dollars) | Annual Benefit Payout (in Billions of Dollars) | Asset-to-Payout Ratio | Rank (Weakest to Strongest) |
| Kentucky ERS | Kentucky | 16% | $2.66 | $1.03 | 2.6 | 1 |
| Chicago Police | Illinois | 22% | $3.15 | $0.75 | 4.1 | 2 |
| New Jersey Teachers | New Jersey | 26% | $26.31 | $4.35 | 6.1 | 4 |
| Philadelphia Municipal | Pennsylvania | 48% | $5.40 | $0.82 | 6.6 | 5 |
| Indiana Teachers | Indiana | 45% | $9.20 | $1.39 | 6.6 | 6 |
| Connecticut SERS | Connecticut | 37% | $12.99 | $1.95 | 6.7 | 7 |
| Dallas Police and Fire | Texas | 45% | $2.16 | $0.29 | 7.3 | 9 |
| Rhode Island ERS | Rhode Island | 54% | $6.33 | $0.83 | 7.6 | 10 |
| South Carolina RS | South Carolina | 54% | $27.03 | $3.45 | 7.8 | 12 |
| Detroit General RS | Michigan | 71% | $2.04 | $0.24 | 8.5 | 16 |
| Colorado State | Colorado | 55% | $14.30 | $1.61 | 8.9 | 19 |
| Missouri DOT and Highway | Missouri | 58% | $2.27 | $0.26 | 8.9 | 20 |
| Massachusetts Teachers | Massachusetts | 55% | $27.06 | $2.99 | 9.0 | 22 |
| West Virginia Teachers | West Virginia | 71% | $7.50 | $0.81 | 9.3 | 24 |
| Louisiana SERS | Louisiana | 64% | $12.36 | $1.32 | 9.4 | 25 |
| Georgia ERS | Georgia | 77% | $13.41 | $1.41 | 9.5 | 26 |
| Arizona Public Safety | Arizona | 46% | $7.45 | $0.77 | 9.6 | 29 |
| New York City Fire | New York | 63% | $13.27 | $1.31 | 10.1 | 32 |
| Ohio Teachers | Ohio | 77% | $73.12 | $7.05 | 10.4 | 35 |
| Mississippi PERS | Mississippi | 63% | $27.46 | $2.61 | 10.5 | 38 |
| Alabama ERS | Alabama | 71% | $12.24 | $1.14 | 10.7 | 39 |
| Baltimore Fire and Police | Maryland | 69% | $2.71 | $0.24 | 11.1 | 45 |
| Kansas PERS | Kansas | 69% | $19.25 | $1.69 | 11.4 | 49 |
| Jacksonville ERS | Florida | 63% | $2.02 | $0.18 | 11.5 | 52 |
| Montana Teachers | Montana | 69% | $4.09 | $0.35 | 11.6 | 53 |
| New Hampshire RS | New Hampshire | 65% | $8.71 | $0.74 | 11.7 | 54 |
| Alaska PERS | Alaska | 65% | $9.43 | $0.80 | 11.8 | 55 |
| Hawaii ERS | Hawaii | 55% | $16.51 | $1.40 | 11.8 | 57 |
| Minnesota Teachers | Minnesota | 75% | $22.02 | $1.82 | 12.1 | 58 |
| Oklahoma Teachers | Oklahoma | 73% | $16.49 | $1.36 | 12.1 | 59 |
| New Mexico Educational | New Mexico | 52% | $13.00 | $1.07 | 12.2 | 61 |
| North Dakota Teachers | North Dakota | 66% | $2.53 | $0.20 | 12.5 | 65 |
| California Teachers | California | 71% | $190.45 | $14.27 | 13.3 | 69 |
| Wyoming Public Employees | Wyoming | 69% | $7.32 | $0.55 | 13.4 | 70 |
| Milwaukee City ERS | Wisconsin | 79% | $5.22 | $0.39 | 13.4 | 71 |
| Fairfax County ERS | Virginia | 70% | $4.07 | $0.30 | 13.7 | 75 |
| Delaware State Employees | Delaware | 87% | $8.95 | $0.62 | 14.4 | 82 |
| Maine State and Teacher | Maine | 83% | $11.42 | $0.79 | 14.4 | 85 |
| Arkansas Teachers | Arkansas | 83% | $16.76 | $1.16 | 14.4 | 86 |
| Seattle ERS | Washington | 64% | $2.76 | $0.19 | 14.5 | 87 |
| Oregon PERS | Oregon | 82% | $67.33 | $4.64 | 14.5 | 88 |
| Iowa Municipal Fire and Police | Iowa | 81% | $2.58 | $0.17 | 15.2 | 92 |
| North Carolina Teachers & State | North Carolina | 88% | $69.57 | $4.55 | 15.3 | 93 |
| Nevada PERS | Nevada | 75% | $32.04 | $1.93 | 16.6 | 108 |
| Idaho PERS | Idaho | 92% | $16.27 | $0.91 | 17.9 | 117 |
| Tennessee State and Teachers | Tennessee | 98% | $37.61 | $2.10 | 17.9 | 118 |
| Utah Noncontributory | Utah | 85% | $25.18 | $1.32 | 19.1 | 128 |
| Nebraska Schools | Nebraska | 90% | $11.55 | $0.57 | 20.2 | 135 |
| South Dakota RS | South Dakota | 100% | $12.24 | $0.54 | 22.6 | 140 |
| DC Teachers | Washington, D.C. | 96% | $2.14 | $0.08 | 27.3 | 143 |
Source: Wirepoints.org
