You may want to consider Barron’s state rankings when choosing a state for retirement. At some point the bill will come due for the bad actor states. Is your state a right-to-work state—you can’t be forced to join a union as a condition of employment? The National Right to Work Committee’s Stan Greer on Barron’s rankings:

The table shows that the eight states with the highest share of combined debt and unfunded pension liabilities as a share of GDP are, starting with the worst of all, Connecticut, Illinois, Hawaii, Alaska, Massachusetts, West Virginia, New Jersey and Kentucky.  Not one of these states has a Right to Work law.  Among the 20 bottom-ranking states, 17 lack Right to Work laws.

In contrast, every single one of the 16 states that are least encumbered by debt and unfunded pension liabilities has a Right to Work law on the books.  Starting with the most fiscally sound of all, they are:  Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Carolina, Nevada, Idaho, Kansas, North Dakota, Florida, Arizona, Wyoming, Michigan, Georgia, Utah, Alabama and Tennessee.