New Jersey Teachers Pension & Annuity Fund (TPAF) vs Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS)
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
New Jersey Teachers Pension & Annuity Fund (TPAF) and Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: New Jersey Teachers Pension & Annuity Fund (TPAF) grades C while Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) grades A. Funding ratios: 48% vs 84%.
Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) 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
Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 80/100 (A) compared to New Jersey Teachers Pension & Annuity Fund (TPAF) at 51/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 35.7 percentage points (83.8% vs 48.1%). Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) covers 220,000 participants.
| Metric | New Jersey Teachers Pension & Annuity Fund (TPAF) | Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 51/100 (C) | 80/100 (A)* |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 48.1% | 83.8%* |
| Total Assets | $28.5B | $47.0B |
| Total Liabilities | $59.3B | $56.1B* |
| Unfunded Liability | $30.8B | $9.1B* |
| Participants | 268,000 | 220,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 4.9% | 6.3%* |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | high | low |
| Sponsor | State of New Jersey | State of Missouri |
Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 80/100 (A) compared to New Jersey Teachers Pension & Annuity Fund (TPAF) at 51/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 35.7 percentage points (83.8% vs 48.1%). Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) covers 220,000 participants.