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 provide education, reform policy options, and actuarial analysis for policymakers and stakeholders to help them design practical and viable reform proposals.
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 Funds Should Focus on Funding Retirement Benefits, Not Politics
Pension boards prioritizing social change do a disservice to the workers expecting pensions and to the taxpayers responsible for unfunded pension debt.
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More Steps Needed to Stabilize Colorado’s State Pension Fund
The pension plan has less than 60 percent of the money it needs to pay for the benefits that have already been promised to public workers.
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Sweeney Proposal Would Help Secure New Jersey Pensions
Despite criticism from some unions, the reform proposal would ensure that retirement promises made to public workers are kept.
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Texas Teacher Pension Funding Bill Passes, But More Still Needs to Be Done
The legislature created the conditions needed to issue teachers an overdue cost of living payment, but fell short of addressing the systemic reforms needed to make such benefit increases more consistent for retirees.
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New Jersey Senate President Rolls Out Important Path to Pension Reform Progress
The reform appears to be a bold and creative way to slow the growth of pension costs while still keeping the retirement promises made to public workers.
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Analysis of Texas Senate Bill 12 and Its Impacts on Texas Teacher Pension Solvency
The cost of the pension plan is proving to be more expensive than previously anticipated, and higher annual contributions will be necessary to fully fund the retirement benefits that have been promised to Texas teachers.
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Texas Cities Take on More Pension Risk than the Rest of the Country
Taking more risks in asset allocation may pay off in some years, but also exposes pension funds to the possibility of major losses.
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Fort Worth Employees Vote for Meaningful Pension Reform
The changes to Fort Worth’s public pension plan focus on adjustments to both contributions and benefits.
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Fort Worth Takes Steps Toward Meaningful Pension Reform
The proposed changes could be a major step towards protecting the retirement security of Fort Worth’s police, fire, and other government workers.
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Unfunded Liabilities Are Forcing Texas TRS Pension Contributions Ever Higher
The Teacher Retirement System (TRS) of Texas’ amortization payments have grown since 2003 and take up an increasing amount of teacher and state contributions.
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Texas TRS: Examining the 7.25 Percent Assumed Rate of Return
Adopting a more realistic projection of investment returns and the estimated value of pension benefits is important to ensuring Texas will uphold promises made to teachers.
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Teacher Retirement System of Texas: Why 80 Percent Funded Is Not Enough
TRS has at least $35.4 billion in pension debt, and billions more if the pension plan’s assumptions are wrong.
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How the Texas Teacher Retirement System’s Unfunded Liability Grew to $35.4 Billion
The key factors driving growth in TRS’ unfunded liability.
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Privatization Doesn’t Orphan Public Pension Systems
Members leaving a pension plan add nothing to a plan’s unfunded liabilities since no additional pension “liability” can accrue for work not undertaken.
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Fort Worth Employee Pension Challenge Requires a Multifaceted Solution
The brewing pension crisis means public workers face a critical decision.
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More Positive Signs for Colorado’s Pension
Early signs continue to support Reason Foundation’s analysis.
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City of Harvey’s Pension Liabilities Raise Questions on Municipal and State Responsibility
Harvey, a city south of Chicago, appears to be the canary in the coal mine, as more than 200 other municipalities in Illinois face the real possibility of seeing revenue intercepted due to a 2011 state law.
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Early Positive Results From Colorado’s Pension Reform
S&P Global Ratings announced that it was revising Colorado’s credit outlook from “negative” to “stable” in light of the passage of major reform.