According to Dr. Susan Mangiero, "The news in pension land is sobering to say the least. Sadly, there are too many examples to cover in one sitting but taxpayers, participants, creditors and regulators are trying to understand the nature of the money trail that has, for some plans, led to trouble writ large. Consider what's going on in Puerto Rico right now. In addition to a just missed payment of more than $400 million, Governor Padilla told C-Span viewers on May 6 there is no money to pay roughly $800 million due on July 1 2016 to senior bondholders. As he explains, debt service has gone up faster than what he calls revenue inflows. Elsewhere, Nick Brown of Reuters writes at length about gross underfunding of the municipal pension plans in "Puerto Rico's other crisis: impoverished pensions" (April 7, 2016). Despite multiple reforms introduced in 2013, funding remains perilously low." Keith Brainard, head of research for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, is quoted as saying: "With about $1.8 billion in assets to pay $45 billion in liabilities, the 96 percent combined shortfall is among the biggest of any U.S. state pension this century, and probably the biggest ever for pensions 'of this size and scale'."

An Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst, Dr. Mangiero warns "Bad economics is more than a numerical exercise. Real people are impacted. Plan participants, taxpayers and investors all have a stake in what happens next. As I wrote on March 19 in "Puerto Rico: Pensioners Versus Bondholders," many individuals who own debt issued by this U.S. territory are themselves retirees or saving for retirement."