A model pension fund
You’re one of the lucky ones if you are a member of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, one of the model defined benefit pension programs in the city.
If all the major state worker retirement plans were run like the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, would a massive public pension overhaul be needed? It’s a question that can never be fully answered. But one fact is clear: IMRF is the state’s most financially stable pension provider.
Providing retirement benefits to local government workers in thousands of municipalities, IMRF is the latest subject of the BGA Good Government Spotlight because it acts as a shining example of how the often-maligned traditional defined benefit plan can work — provided it’s properly funded by employees and government, pursuing a sound investment approach and dedicated to weeding out questionable practices and corruption.
With assets equal to 86 percent of its obligations, IMRF is outpacing its pension peers. By comparison, the state’s largest public pension with $37 billion in assets, the Teachers Retirement System, is 47 percent funded, according to the State Board of Investment. The State Universities Retirement System is about 45 percent funded, while the State Employees Retirement System is 36 percent funded, according to the agency. The Judge’s Retirement System is 29 percent funded, and the General Assembly Retirement System is 22 percent funded.
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