Florida Retirement System (FRS) vs Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS)
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
Florida Retirement System (FRS) and Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: Florida Retirement System (FRS) grades B while Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) grades C. Funding ratios: 82% vs 58%.
Florida Retirement System (FRS) comes out ahead on the composite rubric. For a participant in either plan, the spread is informative but not directly actionable — pension participation is not portable, so the relevant question is what each plan's funded-status trajectory means for that participant's benefit security.
Verdict
Florida Retirement System (FRS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 76/100 (B) compared to Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) at 54/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 24.4 percentage points (82.2% vs 57.8%). Florida Retirement System (FRS) covers 1,065,000 participants.
| Metric | Florida Retirement System (FRS) | Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 76/100 (B)* | 54/100 (C) |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 82.2%* | 57.8% |
| Total Assets | $190.0B | $72.0B |
| Total Liabilities | $231.1B | $124.6B* |
| Unfunded Liability | $41.1B* | $52.6B |
| Participants | 1,065,000 | 518,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 6.5%* | 5.1% |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | low | high |
| Sponsor | State of Florida | State of Pennsylvania |
Florida Retirement System (FRS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 76/100 (B) compared to Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) at 54/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 24.4 percentage points (82.2% vs 57.8%). Florida Retirement System (FRS) covers 1,065,000 participants.