Tie PERS’ COLA to the Rate of Inflation

Tie PERS To CPI

For decades, the COLA automatically increased as the U.S. dealt with historically low inflation. The solution for the Board of Trustees is simple: Tie PERS’ COLA to the rate of inflation as measured by the CPI.

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PERS Board Votes To Lower Expected Rate of Return

PERS Rate of Return Lowered

The board of trustees for the state’s Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) made an important, if unheralded, move recently when it voted unanimously to use a somewhat more realistic projection of its rate of return on investments. This matters because an overly optimistic projection can mask a coming decrease in the solvency of the fund, which is already severely under-capitalized.

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PERS of Mississippi in for Tough Decisions According to Latest PEER Report

PERS PEER Report

The Mississippi Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review issues an annual report on the state’s defined benefit pension system. Normally, the PEER report tends to be moderate in its analysis of PERS, but this one released on May 11 admits that demographics, lower than expected wage inflation by contributing members and lower than expected investment returns are combining to scuttle the plan’s bottom line.

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PERS — Retirees vs. Workers?

PERS board

The time for can-kicking is past when it comes to fixing Mississippi’s defined benefit pension system. The Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi could soon ask taxpayers to increase their contribution to the pensions of state and local employees for the second time in two years. 

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The Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi Has Taken a Hard Hit

PERS 2020 Report

Mississippi’s defined benefit pension fund was hit hard by the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi released its annual comprehensive annual financial report on December 15, 2020 for fiscal 2020, which ended June 30 and the plan continues to take on water.

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Time for Reform of Mississippi’s Defined Benefit Pension System

PERS Reform

A cost of living adjustment should be related to the real world inflation rate.  Mississippi PERS’ COLA at 3 percent is not.  In 2005, the plan’s COLA payout to retirees was $211 million or about 18.9 percent of total benefits paid out.  This year, it grew to almost $700 million, an increase of 7.6 percent from 2018 ($650 million).  The COLA payouts are now 25.4 percent of all benefits paid to retirees.

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PERS Part 3: Is PERS Slip SLRPing Away?

PERS SLRP

Mississippi is the only state with a supplemental pension fund for its legislators (SLRP), seven states provide no pension benefits for legislators, most notably Alabama and Louisiana. The SLRP chug-a-lugs along with a funding ratio of 84.7%, while PERS and the pension fund for state troopers languish with funding ratios of 62.5% and 67.2% respectively.

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