Recently Introduced Actuarially Unsound Methods Hide Pension Mess in Illinois, Texas, Ohio; $3 Trillion Pension Deficit in Total

``Cuts for workers not yet hired do not save much money in the present — but that’s where actuaries can work their magic. They capture the future savings for use today by assuming, in essence, that 100 percent of today’s work force is already earning tomorrow’s skimpier benefits. When used in actuarial calculations, that assumption has a powerful effect. It reduces the amount a government must put into its workers’ pension fund every year... Illinois, along with Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Arkansas, and for that matter every state but those three, are at best dealing with the current problem by making small changes that will matter 30 years from now.''