page_title: Pensions crisis
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: Pensions crisis / United States
caption_attribution_description: English: A timeline showing projected debt milestones from the CBO.
context_page_description: The pensions crisis or pensions timebomb is the predicted difficulty in paying for corporate or government employment retirement pensions in various countries, due to a difference between pension obligations and the resources set aside to fund them. The basic difficulty of the pension problem is that institutions must be sustained over far longer than the political planning horizon. Shifting demographics are causing a lower ratio of workers per retiree; contributing factors include retirees living longer, and lower birth rates. An international comparison of pension institution by countries is important to solve the pension crisis problem. There is significant debate regarding the magnitude and importance of the problem, as well as the solutions.
  For example, as of 2008, the estimates for the underfunding of the United States state pension programs ranged from $1 trillion using a discount rate of 8% to $3.23 trillion using U.S. Treasury bond yields as the discount rate. The present value of unfunded obligations under Social Security as of August 2010 was approximately $5.4 trillion.
context_section_description: The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s (PBGC) financial future is uncertain because of long-term challenges related to its funding and
  governance structure. PBGC's liabilities exceeded its assets by about $51 billion as of the end of fiscal year 2018—an increase of about $16
  billion from the end of fiscal year 2013. In addition, PBGC estimated that its exposure to potential additional future losses for underfunded plans in both the single and multiemployer programs was nearly $185 billion, of which the single-employer program accounts for $175 billion of this amount. PBGC projected that there is more than a 90 percent likelihood that the multiemployer program will be insolvent by the year 2025 and a 99
  percent likelihood by 2026.
caption: A timeline showing projected debt milestones from the CBO.
exif: {}