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The 2017 Commission hired Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research to provide consultation in evaluating and analyzing the historical performance of the NHRS and offer future recommendations in association with the funding status of the system. A major takeaway from the Boston College report was the cost of providing retirement systems benefits in New Hampshire as compared to other plans.

NH Retirement System Costs Are Nearly Half the National Average

  • Benefits are modest: two-thirds of NHRS retirees receive an annual pension benefit of less than $25,000
  • New Hampshire’s annual pension costs for the state and municipalities are half the national average
Additionally, state and local governments participating in NHRS are asked to contribute very little to the normal cost for ongoing pension benefits – only 2.7 percent compared to a 5.9 percent national average.”
Because the state and local governments pay relatively little towards newly accruing benefits, and face about average UAAL costs, the total government costs for NHRS is currently about 15% of payroll compared to a national average of about 18%.”