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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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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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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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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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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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.
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Florida strengthens retirement plan but also increases taxpayers’ burden and rolls back pension reforms
Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed Senate Bill 7024, which makes several changes to the Florida Retirement System, the state’s retirement plan for government workers.
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Increases to contribution rate improve the long-term viability of Florida’s defined contribution plan
Florida policymakers should continue to seek reforms that strengthen the Investment Plan and reduce the risks of public pension debt.
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Webinar—Can investing public pension assets to further nonfinancial goals be consistent with fiduciary principles?
The exclusive purpose of investing pension assets must be to provide pension benefits.
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Webinar: The Personal Retirement Optimization Plan
A plan for incorporating the benefits of 401(k)-style solutions into modern-day public sector retirement plans that give their workers flexibility and predictability of their benefits.
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The Department of Labor’s new ESG rule puts the onus on states
This new rule sets the stage for state governments to establish their own standards.
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Most state pension plans are not adequately prepared for a recession
A recession could add trillions in debt to public retirement systems’ existing unfunded liabilities.
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Reformed pensions in Arizona, Michigan receiving supplemental funding to pay down debt faster
Arizona and Michigan’s recent treatment of funding for pension systems is an example of the value of comprehensive pension reform.
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The Teacher Retirement System of Texas needs to adjust its investment return assumptions
TRS has accrued $47.6 billion in pension debt since 2002, and most of it, around $25 billion, came from investment returns falling below the plan's assumptions.
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Alaska avoids attempt to roll back 2005 pension reform
Instead of unraveling pension progress, policymakers should seek to bolster the policies that brought resiliency and reliability.
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The Great Resignation highlights the need for public pension plans to adapt to today’s mobile workforce
Governments should consider modernizing their retirement plans and options for workers who don’t intend to stay in one position or with one employer for multiple decades.
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Comparing how much states contribute to public workers’ defined contribution retirement plans
Government employers should ensure their contributions to employees' defined contribution retirement plan are in line with industry best practices.