Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) vs Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System (SERS)
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) and Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System (SERS) are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) grades A while Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System (SERS) grades C. Funding ratios: 92% vs 63%.
Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) 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
Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 83/100 (A) compared to Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System (SERS) at 57/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 29.0 percentage points (92.1% vs 63.1%). Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) covers 378,000 participants.
| Metric | Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) | Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System (SERS) |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 83/100 (A)* | 57/100 (C) |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 92.1%* | 63.1% |
| Total Assets | $57.0B | $36.2B |
| Total Liabilities | $61.9B | $57.4B* |
| Unfunded Liability | $4.9B* | $21.2B |
| Participants | 378,000 | 245,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 6.8%* | 5.4% |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | low | high |
| Sponsor | State of Tennessee | State of Pennsylvania |
Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 83/100 (A) compared to Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System (SERS) at 57/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 29.0 percentage points (92.1% vs 63.1%). Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) covers 378,000 participants.