Boom year for NJ pension fund, but one with big question [View all]

Booming investment returns. A significant lump-sum payment. Soaring market values.

These are just some of the events that made 2021 a memorable year for New Jersey’s public-worker pension fund, even during a pandemic.

Yet despite an improving outlook, the pension fund remains in a deep hole due to decades of underfunding by the state, a practice only recently halted. And it will take years to reverse all of the damage caused by more than two decades of shorted employer payments.

Meanwhile, long-term projections for future investment returns suggest the recent gains are due to come back down to earth. That scenario could increase pressure on New Jersey taxpayers to make up the difference if returns drop significantly coming out of the pandemic.

And there’s also no detailed plan that indicates exactly how the state will be able to maintain the record level of pension funding it’s achieved in recent years, which only adds to the future uncertainty.

Read more: https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2021/12/nj-pension-fund-boom-year-government-workers-future-uncertain-taxpayer-pressure/