public employees

Economists say state retirement systems should have enough in assets to cover at least 80 percent of the pension money they owe retirees, but few states meet the 80 percent requirement--and some fall far shorter. A new report from the Pew Center on the States looks at the 10 states with the biggest pension gaps as of 2010:

Retirement age for public sector workers"”government employees, teachers, firefighters, trash collectors"”is becoming a topic of fierce friction nationwide. And the lines between hospitals, insurance companies and doctors are blurring, as the health care law awaits Supreme Court consideration and the 2014 start date of the individual insurance mandate.