West Virginia Teachers Retirement System
public plan · State of West Virginia · Charleston, WV
At 68% funded, West Virginia Teachers Retirement System is in the underfunded bracket. The gap to full funding is $2.7B, an amount that takes years of disciplined contributions to close even with cooperative market returns.
West Virginia Teachers Retirement System is a public-sector pension plan sponsored by State of West Virginia — covering government employees (state, local, or special-district workers). Public plans are not ERISA-governed and not PBGC-insured; they rely on state-level oversight and tax-base solvency. 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.
West Virginia Teachers Retirement System is among the larger U.S. pension plans by asset base ($5.8B). The participant pool of 45,000 divides into 20,000 actives and 25,000 retirees, a mix that shapes both cash-flow profile and investment-horizon choices. The participant mix runs roughly even between 20,000 active workers and 25,000 retirees — a balanced demographic profile that gives the plan time to compound investment returns before payouts dominate cash flow. Annual cash flows: $350M in sponsor contributions versus $450M in benefit payments. Investment performance over the most recent year ran 5.5%, against the plan's assumed long-term return of 7.2%.
PBGC risk classification: moderate. The plan's funded status puts it under enhanced monitoring but not active intervention. Public plans like West Virginia Teachers Retirement System 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
West Virginia Teachers Retirement System is in good financial health at 68% funded. This means for every dollar the plan owes in future benefits, it has 68 cents in assets to cover it. As a public pension, benefits are typically backed by the taxing authority of the sponsoring government. Participants in this plan have relatively low risk of benefit reductions.
Year-by-Year Funding
| Year | Assets | Liabilities | Funding Ratio | Contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $5.8B | $8.5B | 68.3% | $350.0M |
| 2022 | $5.6B | $8.4B | 67.0% | $339.5M |
| 2021 | $5.5B | $7.8B | 70.0% | $329.0M |
| 2020 | $5.3B | $8.2B | 64.0% | $318.5M |
| 2019 | $5.1B | $7.7B | 66.0% | $308.0M |
Frequently Asked Questions
West Virginia Teachers Retirement System is 68% funded, meaning it has 68 cents in assets for every dollar in future benefit obligations. This is below the 80% threshold actuaries consider healthy, and may require increased contributions.
West Virginia Teachers Retirement System has 45,000 total participants, including 20,000 active employees and 25,000 retirees currently receiving benefits.
West Virginia Teachers Retirement System 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.