ABSTRACT
To understand public pension plan management, the first step is to know what pension benefits are and how they are determined. This is important for at least two reasons. First, it will help us understand the cost of pension benefits and the financing of such costs, which is the subject of the following chapter. Second, it will help us understand the impact of any increase in pension benefits on the fiscal health of pension plans and the government’s operating budget, which is the subject in Chapter 6.
