"His ominous warning appears prophetic as, according to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) watchdog, some 3,710 schemes are in deficit, putting a serious question mark over the retirement plans of millions of workers."
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-31/two-thirds-uk-pension-funds-are-red-300-billion-shortfall-revealed
WE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM IN THE USA
But people don't want to talk about it.
Two basic problems throughout the "old" developed world (i.e. US, UK, Western Europe, etc)
- increasing lifespans
- overly optimistic growth projections over and over and over
Politicians love to project 3-4% growth, because it makes it so easy to have a deficit now and tell everyone "Yes, but my budget eliminates the deficit five years from now." We just saw this in the current budget process. Creating a tax system, pension plan or debt repayment system that depends on 3% growth is just stupid. But it's a favorite ruse of all politicians and underpins all the projections in the tax plan that just passed.
I have only one pension (aside from Social Security if that comes through) and, lucky me, it's from Wisconsin, the only state pension in the country that was fully funded in 2010 and continues to be stable. Why? Because the man who designed it realized that politicians would always project optimistically, so he built corrections into the system
QuoteA key feature of the Wisconsin retirement system - unique compared with the rest of the country - is that when investments in the fund do well, payments to retirees can go up. But when investments suffer losses, payments to retirees can decline.
"That helps them manage risk a bit better," said Draine. "It's unique. It's the only state that does that."
....
Not only is the Wisconsin system not a ticking financial bomb, the state also pays less into its system than most states.
The National Association of State Retirement Administrators found in a February 2012 report that 1.3% of all state and local spending in Wisconsin in 2009 went to public employees' pensions. That's less than half the national average of 2.9% and good enough for fourth-best in the country, behind only Vermont, North Carolina and Wyoming.
http://archive.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/states-pension-is-strongest-in-nation-study-finds-bc5s0t0-160191165.html
https://www.jsonline.com/story/opinion/contributors/2017/06/15/burden-wisconsins-retirement-system-competitive-advantage/399381001/
That's how it should be done, but once politicians and special interests start mucking with the calculations, it rarely comes out that way.