Retirement Benefits for Public Employees
Course Overview
Retirement benefits are an embedded feature of state and local government in the U.S. and are inherent, if not always obvious, in a range of public policy matters at all levels of government. LBJ School graduates are likely to encounter these benefits in their professional careers in one or more ways, including the following:
- positions involving fiscal and budgetary analysis will contend with the costs of retirement benefits for public employees;
- those involved in policy analysis may confront the policy implications of retirement plan design and financing;
- an employer-sponsored retirement plan will serve as a component of compensation for virtually all graduates who become employed at the state or local level, meaning these graduates will participate in, contribute to, and may receive a benefit from one or more public retirement plans; and
- the ability of state and local governments to issue bonded debt is affected by the condition of their pension plan.
Retirement plan policy for public workers are a primary factor in the ability of states and political subdivisions--cities, counties, school districts, etc.—to achieve key objectives. These objectives include a) serving as a human resources management tool for public employers; b) promoting retirement security for the portion of the nation’s workforce who are employed in the public sector; and c) sustaining economic vitality, especially in rural areas, by ensuring a continuous infusion of income for retirees.
Public retirement administration and policy involves a wide range of disciplines, including, but not limited to accounting, actuarial science, finance, investment management, human resource management, legal, political economy, economics, and public administration.