Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) vs Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS)
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) and Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) grades C while Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) grades A. Funding ratios: 58% 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 Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) at 54/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 26.0 percentage points (83.8% vs 57.8%). Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) covers 220,000 participants.
| Metric | Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) | Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 54/100 (C) | 80/100 (A)* |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 57.8% | 83.8%* |
| Total Assets | $72.0B | $47.0B |
| Total Liabilities | $124.6B | $56.1B* |
| Unfunded Liability | $52.6B | $9.1B* |
| Participants | 518,000 | 220,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 5.1% | 6.3%* |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | high | low |
| Sponsor | State of Pennsylvania | State of Missouri |
Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 80/100 (A) compared to Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) at 54/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 26.0 percentage points (83.8% vs 57.8%). Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) covers 220,000 participants.