Calpers disputes pension study

Those Stanford University students who concluded that the state's public retirement plans face a shortfall of $525 billion got it wrong, according to Calpers spokesman Brad Pacheco. The study, he says, was based on outdated numbers and relied on a flawed methodology. From the Daily News:

"Our track record is clear: We have earned 7.9 percent return over the last 20 years, and that's the return that lifts the burdens of the taxpayer on pensions, and results in sound funding of our system," Pacheco said. But Joe Nation, co-author of the report and director of the graduate student practicum in public policy at Stanford, said he and his students don't dispute CalPERS' rate of return and used the most recent data available in calculating the $525 billion shortfall.

The Stanford students did knock down $25 billion from the total by taking into account recent stock market gains. So now it's just $500 billion.