Zachary Christensen
Managing Director, Pension Integrity Project, Reason Foundation
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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Best practices in optional defined contribution plans for public workers
Governments expanding their retirement options can offer better benefits to employees and slow the growing costs caused by unfunded public pension liabilities.
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Webinar: Best practices in optional defined contribution plans for public workers
For those looking to implement or improve an optional defined contribution plan to go alongside an existing pension, several key policy decisions are important.
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Pension Reform News: Report finds $1.59 trillion in public pension debt
Plus: The case for Connecticut's fiscal guardrails, hybrid retirement plans are gaining traction, and more.
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Working paper: Best practices in optional defined contribution plans
With the proliferation of unfunded pension liabilities among U.S. governments, optional defined contribution plans can serve as valuable risk mitigation solutions.
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Pension Reform News: What today’s workers need from retirement plans
Plus: The Teachers Retirement System of Georgia needs more reforms, how pension debt impacts other government spending, and more.
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Pension Reform News: Most public employees leave before vesting in pension plans
Plus: Georgia’s teacher pension system needs reform and more.
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Georgia’s teacher pension system needs reforms to address current debt, future risks
The pension plan is still $27.7 billion short on the assets needed to pay for retirement promises made to teachers.
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Pension Reform News: Contribution rates for teachers’ pensions in each state
Plus, how the costs of of teacher pensions are shared by Michigan's state and local taxpayers.
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How much teachers contribute to their retirement benefits in each state
Most states require teachers to pay between 5% and 12% of their pay, with the employer paying what remains to cover the benefit and pension system's debt.
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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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Ohio teachers’ pension reforms should not be at the expense of taxpayers
Long-shot investment strategies that mask the risk to Ohio taxpayers are not the path toward improving teacher benefits.
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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.
