FYI In the Federal Reserve’s latest report card on U.S. finances, formerly known as the Flow of Funds report, there is good news and bad news. Thanks to the bull market in stocks and the recovery in home prices, household wealth hit a record $113.5 trillion in the second quarter. That’s up 88% from the cyclical nadir of the first quarter of 2009 and 59% above the previous peak in the third quarter of 2007, Yardeni Research helpfully points out.
In the public sector, however, the story is less favorable. State and local pensions have $8.8 trillion of liabilities, of which only 52% is funded after a decadelong bull market. Falling interest rates have been a major propellant of higher asset prices, but also have lowered pension funds’ income.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.barrons.com/articles/how-to-solve-the-public-pension-crisis-51569597082?mod=djem_b_Weekly Feed for Barrons Magazine
