State Retiree Benefits Fact Sheet – New Hampshire

New Hampshire has double the trouble of most states: it has had an extremely large drop in its aggregate pension funding levels over the last 10 years, and it has a significant bill coming due for non-pension benefits, relative to its size. On the pensions front, New Hampshire does a good job of keeping up with its annual required contributions. One problem with the state's retirement system, however, has been its practice of tapping investment earnings that exceed expectations and putting them in a separate account for cost-of-living increases. This has prevented the state from evening out investment performance in bad years with the additional interest that is earned in good years.   Legislative reforms in 2007 have targeted this problem (see below). New Hampshire also has a hefty bill coming due for retiree health care and other non-pension benefits, with its actuarial valuation showing a $2.9 billion unfunded liability for state employees.