"…public pension plans are in a strong position to handle the coming influx of retirees since, unlike Social Security, public pensions are rather well-funded."

"Investing the $2.3 trillion in public pension assets and the flow of benefit payments to annuitants promises a continuous, predictable, and growing source of economic stimulus."

"…through efficient asset management and pooling of resources, public defined pension plans have a significant, positive effect on financial markets."

Source: "Profitable Prudence: The Case for Public Employer Defined Benefit Plans," Pension Research Council,
 The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

"Another concern raised by defined contribution plans [private accounts] is that it is much more expensive to manage millions of little accounts than one big one. Therefore, under defined contribution plans, too much of the money put into pension savings goes to pay administrative costs instead of pension benefits."

Source: "Protecting the Nest Egg: A Primer on Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Retirement Plans,"
 The Council of Institutional Investors.

"We've seen from other countries that carving out private accounts from the basic public retirement system doesn't provide enough money for most workers to retire on, and it causes huge financing problems for the basic public program."

Source: "Other Nation’s Programs Show Great Risk,"
 Editorial in the Sacramento Bee.

"Most retiring workers take their 401(k) [private accounts] distribution as a lump sum. Without an annuity, they risk either running out of money before they die or unnecessarily constraining their standard of living by clinging to this nest egg."

Source: "Coming Up Short: The Challenge of 401(k) Plans," Alicia H. Munnell and Annika Sunden,
 The Brooking Institution Press.

"There are good reasons for employers to retain a defined benefit [traditional pension system] as the primary retirement benefit for public employees. A defined benefit plan is an effective tool for recruiting and retaining quality employees. Providing a defined benefit plan helps assure a secure source of income for retired employees, reducing the likelihood of these employees relying on public assistance retirement."

Source: "Myths and Misperceptions of Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Plans," The National Association of
 State Retirement Administrators.

"Most defined contribution [private account] participants will fall well shy of the estimated 75 percent of pre-retirement income needed to maintain the same lifestyle in retirement."

Source: John Hancock Financial Services Retirement Survey.

"401(k)-style plans [private accounts] were not designed to replace pensions. A 401(k) is not a pension; it's a supplemental tax-incentive thrift plan."

Source: Dan Farrell, professor and compensation expert, Western Michigan University in "Days of Extravagant Pension Plans Fading," Detroit Free Press.

"In 401(k) plans [private accounts], we're putting all of the responsibility to save on individual participants, and that can be dangerous."

Source: Amy Monahan, associate law professor,
 University of Missouri, in  "Wither Future Retirees?"
 St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"[People] will mess up. I'm worried about 20 or 30 years from now. There will be a big problem with elderly poverty."

Source: Robert Schiller, economics professor, Yale University,
in "Wither Future Retirees?" St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Individual accounts are a "gamble." "I don’t think people really recognize the risk that they're taking."

Source: Steve Dustmann, vice president,
 McCourtney-Breckenridge & Co., in
"Wither Future Retirees?" St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"It actually costs the state more to fund the newer defined contribution [private accounts] system. [By merging back to the traditional system], there are distinct benefits to the taxpayers. The state will experience a large cash flow from the new participants, along with a lowered state taxpayer contribution of 6 percent, down from 7.5 percent. The state will save about $24 million in the first year and there will be a decrease in required taxpayer dollars each year over the next 30 years."

Source: Speaker Bob Kiss, West Virginia Speaker of the House of Delegates, in "Pension Bond Will Benefit Taxpayers;
 The State Will Save $24 Million in the 1st Year,"
Editorial in Charleston Daily Mail.