A run-up in stocks helped deliver a banner year for America’s public pensions, but the gains won’t be nearly enough to ensure all state and local retirees receive their promised future benefits, the Wall Street Journal reported. Large U.S. systems that oversee retirement funds for police, firefighters, teachers and other public workers earned median returns of 12.4 percent in the fiscal year ended June 30, according to Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service. That is their best annual result since 2014. Yet many of these public pensions remain severely underfunded despite the recent gains, meaning they don’t have enough assets on hand to fulfill all promises made to their workers. Estimates of their collective shortfall vary from $1.6 trillion to $4 trillion.
