From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the United States, public sector pensions are offered by federal, state and local levels of government. They are available to most, but not all, public sector employees. These employer contributions to these plans typically vest after some period of time. Some local governments do not offer defined-benefit pensions at all, but may offer a defined contribution retirement plan. In many states, these plans are known as Public Employee Retirement Systems (PERS). These plans may be defined-contribution or defined-benefit, although the former has become more popular.

History

Public pensions got their start with various 'promises', informal and legislated, made to veterans of the Revolutionary War and, more extensively, the Civil War. They were expanded greatly, and began to be offered by a number of state and local governments during the early Progressive Era in the late nineteenth century.

Federal civilian pensions were offered under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), formed in 1920. CSRS provided retirement, disability and survivor benefits for most civilian employees in the US Federal government, until the creation of a new Federal agency, the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), in 1987.

Federal

• Federal Employees Retirement System - covers approximately 2.44 million full-time civilian employees (as of Dec 2005).^[1]

Note: Retired pay for U.S. Armed Forces retirees is, strictly speaking, not a pension but instead is a form of retainer pay. U.S. military retirees do not vest into a retirement system while they are on active duty; eligibility for non-disability retired pay is solely based upon time in service. Moreover, unlike other retirees, U.S. military retirees are subject to involuntary recall to active duty at any time, though the likelihood of such a recall is remote, especially after age 60. In 2008, there were 1,983,467 retired military in the US. There were 856,677 receiving military pensions, the remainder carrying their longevity into federal civil service positions.^[2]

State

Each of the 50 US states has at least one retirement system for its employees. There are 3.68 million full-time and 1.39 million part-time state-level-government civilian employees as of 2002.^[3]

• Alaska - Alaska Retirement System
• Alabama - Retirement Systems of Alabama
• Arizona - Arizona State Retirement System and Public Safety Personnel Retirement System of Arizona
• Arkansas - Arkansas currently has six retirement systems which cover most employees at the state and local level: Judicial Retirement, Public Employees Retirement, State Highway Employees Retirement, State Police Retirement, District Judges Retirement and Teacher Retirement.^[4]
• California - CalPERS (California Public Employees' Retirement System), CalSTRS (California State Teachers' Retirement System)
• Colorado - Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association
• Connecticut - Connecticut Teachers' Retirement Board
• Illinois - State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS)
• Minnesota - Public Employees Retirement Association of Minnesota
• New Hampshire - New Hampshire Retirement System
• New York - New York State and Local Retirement System, New York State Local Police and Fire Retirement System, New York State Teachers' Retirement System
• Ohio- Ohio Public Employee Retirement System
• Oregon - Oregon Public Employees Retirement System
• Pennsylvania - State Employees' Retirement System and Public School Employees' Retirement System

• Wisconsin- Wisconsin Dept of Employee Trust Funds
• Massachusetts Massachusetts State Board of Retirement

Local

^{See Local government in the United States for a more complete description of the 87000+ entities that make up the local level of government in the US.}

Many US cities are allowed to participate in the pension plans of their state. Some of the largest US cities have their own pension plan. The total number of local government employees in the United States as of 2002 is 13.2 million. There are 10.15 million full-time and 3.13 million part-time local-government civilian employees as of 2002.^[5]

See also

• Political divisions of the United States
• States of the United States related lists
• Retirement plans in the United States
• Social Security Administration

References

1. ^ Federal, State, and Local Governments - Main Page
2. ^ "Retired Military Personnel". Patrick Air Force Base, Florida: The Intercom (publication of the Military Officers Association of Cape Canaveral). June 2009. pp. 4. 
3. ^ Compendium of Public Employment: 2002
4. ^ www.arkansas.gov/dfa/budget/ documents/retirement_systems_05_07.doc
5. ^ Employment of Major Local Governments

External links

• U.S. Census Bureau page for local government
• Directory of state pension executives
• Public employee retirement systems
• Overview of Pension Crises

State Links

• Alaska state retirement system
• Alabama state retirement system
• Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System
• Arkansas Teacher Retirement System
• Arkansas State Highway Employees Retirement System
• California CalPERS
• Colorado PERA
• Delaware Office of Pensions
• Wisconsin Dept of Employee Trust Funds
• [1] Connecticut retirement system
• Ohio Public Employee Retirement System