Jeff Kempker, CEBS, CRC
It’s hard to believe 2016 is coming to an end and 2017 is closing in on us like a blustery Missouri cold front. In case you missed it, a lot happened with your retirement system over the last 12 months! Here is a brief compilation of the top news-worthy events.
Important Legislation was Passed
The 2016 Missouri Legislative Session saw the passage of HB 1443, a bill that LAGERS proposed. This important legislation allows local governments in Missouri who are running their own pension plan to choose LAGERS as the administrator of that plan. This will permit these smaller plans to take advantage of LAGERS’ expertise and economies of scale, resulting in lower administrative costs for the local entity and ensuring that these plans maintain financial stability. LAGERS staff has been working diligently to begin accepting these new plans since Governor Nixon signed the bill.
LAGERS Members are Living Longer
Every five years, LAGERS takes an in-depth look at our membership to take stock of changing demographics and other trends. One of the key findings from the 2016 study was that LAGERS members are living longer, which is great news! A 60-year-old male is now expected to live to age 84 and a 60-year-old female to age 88! Because of this, LAGERS’ Board updated the mortality tables we use to reflect the longer lifespans in order to ensure benefits will be properly funded.
LAGERS Funding Level Reaches 94.7%
Pension funds often measure their financial stability using a “funded ratio.” This is simply a measure of the fund’s ability to meet all of its obligations to members and retirees now and into the future. All pension plans strive for a 100% funding ratio. At 100% funded, a pension plan has all the assets it needs on hand to meet all of its liabilities. This is kind of like being fully paid up on your mortgage. If you paid off your mortgage, you could say your home is 100% funded. Being under 100% funded as a pension plan is not necessarily a problem because all of the participants in the plan won’t need to be paid on the same day. What is important is that there is a dedicated method to pay the liabilities and that the plan is moving toward 100%. A pension plan that is above 80% funded is normally considered to be on stable financial ground.
12 New Employers Joined LAGERS in 2016
LAGERS continues to be an attractive option for local government employers looking for ways to recruit and retain high-quality workers to serve their communities. Seventy-five local governments have joined LAGERS in the last five years and half of these switched from 401(k)-type plans to the stability and security of LAGERS’ defined benefit approach. Why the switch? We are increasingly hearing from government officials the need to enhance the services of their communities by hiring and keeping the best people to fill those jobs. I attended a city council meeting recently and heard from one official, “We are a service-based industry and to provide the best service to the citizens of this city, we do that through the people we hire.”
The last year was an exciting one for LAGERS and as we look forward to 2017 and LAGERS’ 50-year anniversary we expect nothing but continued success in helping Missouri’s communities accomplish great things!
Jeff KempkerManager of Member Services
