Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA)
public plan · State of Colorado · Denver, CO
Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) is underfunded: 65% funding ratio, with $31.5B in unfunded actuarial liability against $58.0B in plan assets. Plans below 75% funded face heightened regulatory scrutiny and usually require higher sponsor contributions or benefit adjustments to recover.
State of Colorado runs Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) as a public-sector defined-benefit plan. The plan operates outside the ERISA framework; oversight comes from state pension boards and the sponsor's legislative body rather than the federal Department of Labor or PBGC. The plan remains active — accruing new benefits for current employees and accepting new participants. Among private-sector single-employer plans, the active status is increasingly rare as employers freeze accruals while continuing to fund existing obligations; public-sector plans are more often still actively accruing.
On scale, Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) is a mega-plan: $58.0B in assets serving 625,000 participants (320,000 active, 305,000 retired). Plans this large dominate the U.S. pension landscape and carry concentrated solvency risk. The participant mix runs roughly even between 320,000 active workers and 305,000 retirees — a balanced demographic profile that gives the plan time to compound investment returns before payouts dominate cash flow. Annual cash flows: $4.8B in sponsor contributions versus $5.5B in benefit payments. Investment performance over the most recent year ran 5.5%, against the plan's assumed long-term return of 7.0%.
PBGC risk classification: high. The plan is on enhanced monitoring and may face funding-improvement or rehabilitation-plan requirements depending on multi-year trajectory. Public plans like Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) are not PBGC-insured. The benefit guarantee rests on the sponsoring government's ability and willingness to make required contributions, which interacts with state and local tax-base dynamics.
Source: DOL EFAST2 Form 5500 filings and Boston College CRR Public Plans Database.
Funding History
What This Means for You
Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) is 65% funded, which is below the 80% threshold that actuaries consider healthy. The plan has $31.5B in unfunded liabilities that must be addressed through increased contributions, investment returns, or benefit adjustments. Current participants should monitor this plan and consider supplemental retirement savings.
Year-by-Year Funding
| Year | Assets | Liabilities | Funding Ratio | Contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $58.0B | $89.5B | 64.8% | $4.8B |
| 2022 | $56.3B | $89.3B | 63.0% | $4.7B |
| 2021 | $54.5B | $82.6B | 66.0% | $4.5B |
| 2020 | $52.8B | $91.0B | 58.0% | $4.4B |
| 2019 | $51.0B | $85.1B | 60.0% | $4.2B |
Frequently Asked Questions
Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) is 65% funded, meaning it has 65 cents in assets for every dollar in future benefit obligations. This is below the 80% threshold actuaries consider healthy, and may require increased contributions.
Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) has 625,000 total participants, including 320,000 active employees and 305,000 retirees currently receiving benefits.
Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) is not covered by the PBGC. Benefits depend entirely on the plan's assets and the sponsor's ability to fund it.
The Pension Health Score (0-100, A-F) measures a pension plan's financial strength based on funding ratio (50%), funding trend over 3 years (30%), and PBGC risk level (20%). Higher scores indicate more secure retirement benefits.
Pension Health Score is calculated from funding ratio, 3-year funding trend, and PBGC risk classification.