About

Who We Are

The Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) is a lifetime income, cost-sharing retirement plan for Minnesota public employees. 

We serve over 440,000 current and former public employees from 2,100 governmental agencies and pay monthly benefits to more than 120,000 retirees, disabled members, and survivors of deceased members. Our members are social workers, firefighters, snowplow drivers, nurses, jailers, attorneys, paraprofessionals, and police officers. They work in our parks, cities, counties, and schools across the state. The services they provide and the work they do make our communities better. 

Nearly 8% of Minnesotans are members of PERA, and in 2020, PERA paid over $2 billion in benefits to retirees and former members, with 89% going to Minnesota addresses. Benefit payments to PERA recipients are spent in local communities supporting economic activity and jobs, and are considered taxable income at both the federal and state levels. 

Our Mission and Vision

Our mission is to administer and promote sustainable retirement plans and provide services our members value.

We do this by providing secure retirement benefits members can count on at affordable rates for public employers, with member-focused service delivery.

Our vision is to be a recognized leader in efficient and excellent service delivery and plan management.  

How it Works

PERA administers three statewide retirement plans providing a defined benefit plan (DBP) to participating public employees in the state of Minnesota. In addition, we manage a statewide retirement plan providing defined contribution (DCP) coverage to public officials, city managers, physicians, and certain ambulance service personnel, rescue squad personnel, and volunteer firefighters. We also manage a lump-sum defined benefit plan for volunteer firefighters in the state. All of these programs are tax-qualified retirement plans under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. 

Benefits are funded by investment earnings, the employer, and its employees. Contributions over a member’s career are made by both the member and employer, and invested and managed by the State Board of Investment. Two-thirds of our revenue comes from professional investing over a long horizon.

membership

Our History

In 1931, during the Great Depression, a group of public employees asked the state of Minnesota for legislation authorizing a retirement association for all public employees not covered by the state’s existing retirement plan (established in 1929). The Minnesota Legislature decided that a large retirement association would be able to operate more economically and efficiently than the smaller versions that already existed, so on April 24, 1931 they established the Public Employees Retirement Association of Minnesota. Operations began officially a few months later on July 1.

1931

The Public Employees Retirement Association of Minnesota was established on April 24, 1931 and officially began operations on July 1. By the end of our first fiscal year, PERA had 2,103 members and just over $110,000 in assets.

1935

Legislation opened enrollment indefinitely for employers. 30 counties and a dozen cities were participating with a total membership of 3,000.

1936

On July 28, we issued our first pension check to William E. Fay, a Duluth courthouse custodian (amount: $138). Our membership totaled 5,000 members with over $800,000 in assets.

1938

Our first executive director, O.M. Ousdigian, joined the agency. “Mr. O” became known as the father of the entire pension system in the state of Minnesota. He led PERA for 41 years, retiring in 1979.

1947

Membership was opened to all qualifying public employees in the state and no longer required employer approval.

1959

The Police & Fire plan is created. PERA members employed by sheriff’s offices and municipal police and fire departments became members of PERA’s P & F plan. Recognizing the physical demands and hazards of these occupations, the Legislature set the full retirement under the plan to age 58 (later age 55).

1968

The Coordinated (General) Plan is created. For the first time in our history, the retirement benefits for new hires were coordinated with Social Security (the “Coordinated Plan”), while benefits for existing members were not (the “Basic Plan”).

1980

We hosted our first outstate pre-retirement conference on March 25 at the Stearns County Courthouse in St. Cloud.

1985

PERA became a state agency. Until 1985, PERA was a private agency governed by Minnesota law.

1987

The Defined Contribution Plan (DCP) was created for public officials, physicians, and volunteer ambulance personnel.

1996

Our Member Service Center was established—originally referred to as the CSR (Customer Service Representative) program.

1997

mnpera.org was launched.

2001

RSMN BuildingPERA's offices moved to RSMN building along with MSRS, TRA, and SBI. This allowed members easy access to all three pension funds and provided expanded space to host member programs.

2003

ERIS (Employer Reporting and Information System) was launched, allowing employers to easily submit information electronically to PERA.

2006

myPERA was introduced to members—initially designed to provide online access to the Personal Benefit Statement.

2008

PERA distributed nearly $1 billion in benefits to over 60,000 retirees across Minnesota.

2010

The Statewide Volunteer Firefighter (SVF) Plan was created.

2011

We offered group counseling sessions for the first time to members approaching retirement.

2015

We updated our mission statement

Our mission is to administer and promote sustainable retirement plans and provide services our member’s value.

2020

Our From Hire to Retire and Ready to Retire member programs were changed to virtual webinars, and we launched our phone counseling program.