What is PERA and How does it Work?

The ins and outs of the PERA Pension for Colorado Public School Employee

Colorado Public Employees Retirement Account or PERA provides retirement and other benefits to more than 630,000 current and former Teachers, State Troopers, Snowplow Drivers, Correctional Officers, and other public employees who provide a valuable service to Colorado. PERA is a pension plan, where a public employee automatically contributes a proportion of their salary to the pension. PERA then invests those dollars, and when the time comes to retire, you will receive a monthly payment for the rest of you're life. In the future, we will dive into figuring out how much you will receive monthly after you retire.

For most members of PERA, your contribution will replace your social security. This means that instead of a portion of your paycheck going to social security, it goes directly to PERA and is invested for your future. Not only does your contribution go into PERA investments, but your employer as well contributes and that goes to your retirement. PERA is very similar to a 401k, but is specifically for public employees.

PERA is a great tool for helping public employees prepare for retirement. In conjunction the help of a financial planner and other plans, public employees can have control of when they retire and how much they will retire with. The key for having this opportunity is to save early and save often.