Zachary Christensen is a managing director of Reason Foundation's Pension Integrity Project.
Christensen’s work with Reason's Pension Integrity Project aims to promote solvent, sustainable retirement systems that provide retirement security for government workers while reducing long term costs for taxpayers and employees. Zachary and his team provides education, reform policy options, and actuarial analysis for policymakers and stakeholders to help them design reform proposals that are practical and viable.
The Pension Integrity Project has provided technical assistance to several successful pension reform efforts in recent years, including in Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, South Carolina, Texas and other states tackling persistent pension solvency challenges.
Christensen has contributed to in-depth solvency analysis of the Arizona PSPRS, Arkansas TRS, Louisiana TRSL, Texas ERS, and Texas TRS pension plans.
Christensen's work has been published in the Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register, NJ.com, Colorado Politics, and many other publications. He has also been featured in the Carolina Journal and the Michigan Capitol Confidential. His research has been published by the Hoover Institution, The Platte Institute, Texas Public Policy Foundation, and Rio Grande Foundation.
Prior to joining Reason Foundation, Christensen was a pension finance analyst at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, where he worked on widely-cited research on the funding status and accounting methods for public sector retirement systems.
Christensen holds an M.S. in Public Policy from Pepperdine University and a B.S. in Political Science from Brigham Young University.
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Pension Reform News: Webinar on how pensions impact worker recruitment and retention
Plus: Public pensions make risky private equity investments, the barriers to pension reform, and more.
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Is private equity a public financial hazard?
Private equity funds lack clear return and risk metrics, making it hard to assess performance before investments are redeemed, often a decade or more after the initial investment.
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Pension Reform News: Impact of pensions on recruiting and retaining public workers
Plus: Surprisingly few public employees qualify for pensions and workers say they'd prioritize more pay over retirement benefits.
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Alaska pension proposal would impose big costs but have little impact on recruitment
Senate Bill 88 could ultimately cost the state an additional $9.6 billion without improving recruitment or retainment of public workers.
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Michigan bills would help parents give kids reasonable independence
The Michigan bills would establish clear allowances for kids traveling to or from school, playing outdoors, and remaining at home alone for reasonable periods.
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Pension Reform News: Delaying needed reforms costs taxpayers
Plus: Missouri proposal would unwisely fund public pensions through fines and fees.
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Pension Reform News: Public employee turnover rates, Alaska lawmakers weigh system options, and more
Plus: Michigan proposal would divert funding from underfunded teacher plan, Mississippi has chance to emulate successful reforms, and more.
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For most workers, the value of Alaska’s defined contribution plan surpasses that of a traditional pension
The following tool created by the Pension Integrity Project displays the year-by-year accrual of retirement benefits for a wide variety of Alaska workers in different fields and starting at different ages.
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Senate Bill 88 would expose Alaska to significant additional costs
This bill could realistically add $9.6 billion in additional costs to future state budgets and reintroduce Alaska to significant pension risk.
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Pension Reform News: Analyzing Mississippi’s pension challenges, a costly reform rollback in Florida, and more
Plus: Alaska bill would greatly improve public workers' retirement benefits, how to achieve full funding, and more.
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Major costs and risks associated with restoring the Florida Retirement System’s cost-of-living adjustment
Florida's cost of bringing back COLAs could rise above $32 billion over 30 years.
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Pension Reform News: How West Virginia improved funding and why reforms often fall short
Plus: S&P upgrades five states’ credit ratings and more.
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Pension Reform News: Ohio’s pension challenges, ESG proxy votes, and more
Plus: Public pension plans should not get into the private retirement annuity business, the continued rise of public pension contributions, and more.
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Examining the solvency and resiliency of Ohio’s public pensions
Ohio’s public pensions have over $68 billion in unfunded liabilities and need further reforms.
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Pension Reform News: Flaws in Pennsylvania proposal, voters approve increase in Texas, and more
Plus: Pension obligation bonds in Dallas, Ohio's defined contribution plans, Michigan's model for reducing debt, and more.
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Pension Reform News: $1.3 trillion in state pension debt, shortsighted calls for divesting, and more
Plus: Ohio teacher retirement system vulnerable to market downturn, defined benefit plan unlikely to cure Alaska's woes, and more.
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Ohio’s teacher retirement reforms are working well, but more needed
The Pension Integrity Project finds approximately 75% of STRS’ unfunded liabilities can be attributed to interest on pension debt that has accrued since 2001.
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Examining calls to bring back Alaska’s defined benefit pensions
Bringing back Alaska's defined benefit pensions would be unlikely to improve retention or recruitment but could add $9 billion in unfunded liabilities.