Aaron Brown, Columnist

U.S. Pension Fund Collapse Isn't a Distant Prospect. It Could Come in 5 Years.

Kicking the can down the road won't work for much longer.

April 18, 2018 at 10:00 AM UTC

Aaron Brown is a former head of financial market research at AQR Capital Management. He is also an active crypto investor, and has venture capital investments and advisory ties with crypto firms. He is the author of the soon-to-be-released "Wrong Number."

That's one idea.
Photograapher: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

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Warnings about looming public pension disasters have regularly cropped up since the 1950s, pointing to problems 25 years or more down the line. To politicians and union leaders,1523993426209 the troubles were someone else's predicament. Then crisis fatigue set in as the big problem remained down the road.

Today, the hard stop is five to 10 years away,1523993515090 within the career plans of current officials.1523993585321 In the next decade, and probably within five years, some large states are going to face insolvency1523993647714 due to pensions, absent major changes.1523993704029