Retirement ages, COLAs and out-of-sync pension payouts

State-run teacher pensions have a shortfall of $37,000 per student, while Chicago's shortfall totals $24,000.

How did Illinois’ pension plans become so underfunded? In general, by promising far more than can possibly be delivered.

Numerous U.S. pension plans are in deep, deep trouble, and Illinois is at the top of the list. Plan assumptions cannot and will not be met.

Baby boomers have saddled young Illinoisans with a grossly unfair burden.

Illinois state government contributes the equivalent of 35 to 127 percent of government-worker salaries to keep its pension systems above water.

At the rate pension costs are expected to increase, by 2029 the state will spend more on retirement costs than on aid to schools.

More than 70 cents out of every new education dollar already goes to teacher retirement costs.

Politicians have made a mess of Illinois’ finances, in large part through their mismanagement of state and local pension systems. With most of the state’s pension funds heading toward insolvency, it’s no surprise that politicians’ actions – from using government-worker retirements as slush funds, to trading retirement benefits in exchange for union support, to taking...

More mobile than any generation before them, millennials need retirement plans, such as 401(k)s, that are just as flexible. But if you’re a millennial looking to become a state-government worker in Illinois, you may want to look elsewhere. Mobility isn’t a priority for state officials. Illinois almost exclusively offers its government workers traditional pension plans....