Colorado PERA: Securing Your Financial Future
Colorado’s Public Employees’ Retirement Association (PERA) is a cornerstone of financial security for roughly 10% of the state’s workforce. Whether you are a teacher, state trooper, or other public servant, PERA helps manage your long-term retirement savings. Often serving as a substitute for Social Security, this system operates under Title 24, Article 51 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. As of the end of 2025, PERA managed approximately $75.1 billion in assets (Source: 2025 ACFR).
Current Funding Status: The Path to 2048
As of the 2025 financial review, PERA’s combined funded status reached 69.1%, compared to 69.2% in 2024. While the system holds an unfunded liability—the gap between current assets and projected future obligations—of $30.1 billion, it remains on a stable, legislatively mandated path to reach full funding by 2048 (Source: 2025 ACFR).
In 2025, PERA distributed $5.6 billion in total pension benefits, with approximately $4.8 billion of that total flowing directly to retirees living within Colorado, providing a vital boost to local economies across all 64 counties (Source: 2025 PAFR).
What This Means for You
If you are an active PERA member, you may wonder how these numbers affect your retirement.
* For Current Employees: Your contribution rates are set based on the system’s financial performance. Because the fund is on track, the system avoided triggering further automatic increases for 2027.
* For Retirees: Your benefit security relies on the disciplined application of the Automatic Adjustment Provision (AAP), which ensures that if the fund performance fluctuates, the system has tools to adjust without requiring constant new legislation.
Legislative Updates: Protecting the Fund
Several key legislative actions in 2025 reinforced the system’s sustainability:
* SB 25-028: Standardized reporting for the PERA Board to ensure actuarial audits and experience studies align with state legislative timelines.
* HB 25-1105: Completed a financial ‘true-up’ for the Denver Public Schools (DPS) division, reallocating funds to support long-term solvency.
* Direct Fiscal Support: The state continues to provide periodic supplemental contributions to address unfunded liabilities and keep the 2048 deadline within reach.
Key Terms
* Unfunded Liability: The amount by which the total promised benefits to retirees exceed the current value of the assets in the fund.
* Smoothing: An accounting practice that spreads out the impact of market gains or losses over several years to prevent extreme volatility in contribution rates.
* AAP: The ‘Automatic Adjustment Provision,’ a tool that allows contribution rates to shift automatically based on the fund’s health to ensure it stays on track for full funding.
Resources
For personalized information regarding your benefit statement, please visit the following:
* Colorado PERA Website
* Colorado General Assembly Pension Review