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PensionWatch

Kentucky County Employees Retirement System (CERS)

public plan · State of Kentucky · Frankfort, KY

ACTIVE
C
Pension Health Score
50/100
Funding Status48% Funded
0%80% threshold100%
$8.5B
Total Assets
$17.6B
Total Liabilities
$9.1B
Unfunded Liability
185,000
Participants

Funding History

What This Means for You

Kentucky County Employees Retirement System (CERS) is 48% funded, which is below the 80% threshold that actuaries consider healthy. The plan has $9.1B 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

YearAssetsLiabilitiesFunding RatioContributions
2023$8.5B$17.6B48.4%$1.2B
2022$8.2B$17.5B47.0%$1.2B
2021$8.0B$16.3B49.0%$1.1B
2020$7.7B$18.0B43.0%$1.1B
2019$7.5B$16.6B45.0%$1.1B

Frequently Asked Questions

Kentucky County Employees Retirement System (CERS) is 48% funded, meaning it has 48 cents in assets for every dollar in future benefit obligations. This is significantly underfunded and participants should monitor the situation closely.

Kentucky County Employees Retirement System (CERS) has 185,000 total participants, including 90,000 active employees and 95,000 retirees currently receiving benefits.

Kentucky County Employees Retirement System (CERS) 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.

Last updated:

Pension Health Score is calculated from funding ratio, 3-year funding trend, and PBGC risk classification.