Do New York City Teachers Have 'Adequate' Retirement Benefits?

Abstract

Does New York City's teacher pension plan provide sufficient retirement benefits to its members? How has it changed over time? In order to answer these questions, this paper begins by outlining a framework for determining whether a given plan’s retirement benefits are “adequate” or not, and then examines whether New York City’s TRS plans meet that test. Based on this comparison, it finds that the current Tier VI plan does not provide fully adequate retirement benefits even to the longest-serving veterans. Some portion of teachers will reach at least a minimal adequacy threshold, but the typical teacher would need to serve 23 years before doing so.