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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Pension Reform Newsletter — June 2019
Public pension issues disproportionately affect women, the debate over pension debt and government spending in Kansas, and more.
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Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) Pension Solvency Analysis
Investment returns failing to meet unrealistic expectations has been the largest contributor to the unfunded liability growth, adding $4.2 billion to the unfunded liability since 2000.
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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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Pension Reform Newsletter — May 2019
Leveraging public assets for pension solvency, Arizona pensions seeing little reward for major risk taking, and more.
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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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Pension Reform Newsletter — April 2019
Analysis of Texas’ proposed pension reform, public employees are living longer than previously assumed, and more.
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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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Pension Reform Newsletter — March 2019
Protecting teachers' pensions in Texas, Kansas considers a costly change, and more.
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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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Pension Reform Newsletter — February 2019
Analysis of Georgia’s proposed pension reform, recommendations for saving Pennsylvania’s pensions, and more.
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Pension Reform Newsletter — January 2019
Fort Worth proposes pension reform, examining divestment activism in pension policy, and more.
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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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Pension Reform Newsletter — December 2018
California’s rising taxes linked to rising pension costs, pension woes contribute to Vermont credit rating downgrade, and more.
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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.
