Public Pensions Remain Underfunded and Unlikely To Keep Promises

Looming disaster

Last spring, the St. Paul Teachers' Retirement Fund Association and the Duluth Teachers' Retirement Fund Association went to the Legislature to ask for help.

At the time, the St. Paul fund could only provide two-thirds of what it had promised to those paying into the system, and the Duluth fund had more retired members than working members.

The Minnesota Legislature passed a billthat will give aid to the funds, change early retirement calculations and authorize a study on the merger of the two funds. But are these changes enough?

Pension woes are being felt across the country. Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles are all dealing with unsustainable public pensions.