Fewer workers today have access to a retirement plan that provides specific benefit payments when they retire. Many workers have had their traditional pension plans replaced by 401K-style plans, which has been discussed in New York. Let’s take a breath and consider why defined benefit plans like the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) work.

For more than 90 years, NYSLRS has done what a pension system is supposed to do, provide retirement security for our members. Our pension system is among the best funded and best run in America. With a solid 2012-13 annual return of 10.38 percent, the New York State Common Retirement Fund is now valued at more than $160 billion. And despite the market’s recent volatility, the Fund remains well positioned for the future.

As Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli notes in this video, NYSLRS is as strong as it’s ever been and serves as a powerful counterweight to the arguments that public pension systems are unsustainable.