What's woven into the most successful state retirement plans?

A comprehensive analysis of 85 major retirement systems across all 50 states reveals that the most successful public sector retirement plans share key characteristics for achieving the critical 80% pre-retirement income replacement target. While defined benefit plans remain most common in over 35 states, hybrid plans combining DB and DC components offer the strongest retirement security when they include three sources of guaranteed lifetime income: Social Security, a defined benefit component, and annuitized defined contribution savings. The research shows that plans without Social Security fail to meet the 80% replacement target, while those with Social Security can adequately serve low earners but often fall short for high earners. Success factors include benefit multipliers of at least 1.6%, combined contribution rates of 12-15%, and crucially, access to lifetime income options within all plan types.