Zachary Christensen
Managing Director, Pension Integrity Project
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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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.