The fund’s long-term expected rate of return is 6.8%. The health of the fund is critical to its 673,000 active workers and 447,000 retirees, and it comes as more public sector employees are retiring, a review of state records showed. The number of people receiving state pensions rose by 5.4% percent over the last four years, according to an analysis by the USA TODAY Network New York. The average annual payout rose by 11% over the same timeframe: from $26,039 to $28,817. There was also growth in top pension earners. The number of state employees drawing a pension of $100,000 or more grew by 65%, from 3,817 to 6,292 over the four-year stretch, the records showed.