There's is strong possibility of a huge pension crisis in my opinion with pension funds unable to find the required low risk yields they need due to negative real rates. Pension fund deficits are mounting and funds are now having to seek greater yields in riskier sectors such as all time high stock markets and hedge funds. This article is a great discussion on this theme of future pension risk and the difficult situation funds and central banks find themselves in. I think it's only a matter of time now before we see the first large fund go under. "Now, pensions are left with little choice but to risk it all and buy stocks near their all-time highs or give even more money to hedge funds or distressed credit managers. The alternative of adding investment-grade corporate bonds that yield less than 2% is a non-starter, to say nothing of Treasuries."

Defined-benefit pension plans were already barely treading water heading into 2020. In the years ahead, the risk is as great as ever that a large swath of them will drown. As the name implies, defined-benefit pensions promise to pay a set amount to retirees. While corporate America has largely moved away from this structure in favor of 401(k) options (or “defined contribution” plans), virtually all state and local governments still offer these reliable retirement payouts. And they’ve been falling behind in a big way: In the 2019 fiscal year, states had $1.48 trillion in unfunded pension liabilities, while the 50 largest local governments faced $478 billion in adjusted net pension liabilities, according to calculations from Moody’s Investors Service. The 100 largest corporate defined-benefit plans had a deficit of $285 billion in November, according to Milliman data.