New Cost Hike for Illinois Pensions Mirrors National Trend

New Cost Hike for Illinois Pensions Mirrors National Trend

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The state’s annual tab for teacher pensions may go up by an estimated $420 million, after the pension board lowered its expectations last Friday for how much its investments will earn. 

Basically, the worse you think your investments will do, the more you have to put in up front.

It’s a problem other states are recognizing too. “What Illinois is doing is totally consistent with what’s going on all over the country,” says Chris Berry, who teaches public policy at the University of Chicago.

He says recent academic research—and the 2008 financial crisis—have contributed to the trend.