[surfearth]

You're correct that poor governance is a big part of the problem. Nevertheless, it is certainly possible for well governed pensions to remain solvent and even run at a surplus. Insurance and annuities are two other industries with the same basic concept. Pool risks together and guarantee a certain level of future benefits based on conservative assumptions (it is not unreasonable to guarantee an inflation adjusted payout if you assume you will generate a market-based return over the long run). One of the problems today is that assumptions have not been conservative.