Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System

The Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) was established on July 18, 1917 to provide retirement benefits to public school employees of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The members eligible to participate in the System include all full-time public school employees, part-time hourly public school employees who render at least 500 hours of service in the school year, and part-time per diem public school employees who render at least 80 days of service in the school year in any of the 775 reporting entities in Pennsylvania. As of June 30, 2018, the System had nearly 256,000 active members with an estimated annual active payroll of $13.5 billion. Under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code, the PSERS pension plan is classified as a 401(a), governmental defined benefit plan. A defined benefit plan means that your retirement benefit is determined by a formula which includes a retirement factor, years of credited service, and the final average salary.

The annuitant membership at June 30, 2018, consisted of over 233,000 retirees and beneficiaries who receive over $497 million in pension and healthcare benefits each month. The average yearly benefit paid to annuitants is $25,405.

PSERS owns part of Yes! Communities, a real estate management company that owns over 200 mobile home parks.[1]