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IPERS: Did You Know?
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The Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS) is the state's largest public retirement plan. The Iowa Legislature created IPERS in 1953. The system now includes more than 400,000 members, including public employees who teach Iowa's children, maintain our roads and parks, care for our most vulnerable residents and protect our citizens. In September 2025, IPERS CEO Greg Samorajski shared this Op Ed article with Iowa newspapers sharing more on the important role IPERS has for Iowa's public employees.
The truth about IPERS
The Governor and legislature create the laws that govern IPERS. IPERS administers the plan according to these laws. Members who have thoughts about IPERS' governance are encouraged to contact their Senator or Representative.
IPERS is a self-funded retirement plan. IPERS does not receive a general fund appropriation from the Iowa legislature. Instead, the plan is funded with investment earnings primarily. Member and employer contributions provide the remainder of the funding.
Contributions to IPERS are pooled and invested; IPERS assumes all the investment risk. Members receive a guaranteed, consistent retirement benefit payment throughout retirement. Members of a defined contribution plan make their own investment decisions and assume all the investment risk. Defined contribution plan members also risk running out of funds before their deaths.
An actuarial study annually determines how much IPERS members and employers must contribute to sufficiently fund benefits. By law, Regular IPERS members contribute 40% of the required cost, and employers contribute 60% of the required cost.
Retirement benefits are based on a formula that includes the member’s average salary and years of service. The Iowa Legislature creates this formula. In FY2024, the average benefit was $2,125 per month.
IPERS members are dedicated public servants. In FY2024, new retirees averaged 21.94 years of service. IPERS' benefits help attract and retain public employees.
As of FY2025, IPERS is 92.17% funded, ranking it among the most financially sound public pension systems in the nation. The funded ratio is an important metric to understand the financial health of a retirement plan. The funded ratio equals the value of assets divided by the cost of promised benefits (liabilities). IPERS is on schedule to be fully funded no later than FY2044.
In FY2024, IPERS’ income included $1.5 billion in contributions from members and employers, and $2.9 billion from investment earnings. IPERS’ investment program generates most of the revenue needed to pay member benefits, allowing IPERS to maintain stable contribution rates. No state general fund money is used to subsidize IPERS.
Most IPERS benefit recipients live in the state of Iowa and spend their retirement income locally on groceries, entertainment, healthcare and more. In FY2024, IPERS paid $2.4 billion in benefits to members who live in Iowa. That’s 89% of IPERS’ total benefit payments.
An unfunded actuarial liability (UAL) is the difference between IPERS’ liabilities (promised future benefit payments in today’s dollar) and the value of existing assets. In FY2025, IPERS’ UAL was $3.8 billion. In the simplest terms, this means that the value of IPERS’assets is $3.8 billion less that what is promised in future benefit payments to all 400,000 active, inactive and retired members. However, IPERS doesn’t necessarily need all the funds now to pay future benefits. The IPERS Trust Fund is currently valued at more than $46 billion, which is sufficient to pay benefits far into the future. When the UAL is eliminated in as soon as the next decade, IPERS will have the funds necessary to pay all future benefits. Very few retirement systems are fully funded; IPERS is among the best-funded retirement systems in the nation.
For many years, contributions members and employers paid to IPERS were established in Iowa law and were not sufficient to generate the funds necessary to pay promised benefits. As the gap between contributions and liabilities grew, the UAL also increased. In 2010 the Iowa Legislature passed a pension reform bill that gave IPERS the ability to establish annual contribution rates according to an actuarial study. IPERS implemented this reform in 2012 and since then has assessed contribution rates that appropriately cover its liabilities and pay down the unfunded liability. IPERS’ long-term goal is to eliminate the UAL and achieve full funding in approximately 2044. But better-than-expected investment returns means IPERS is on track to eliminate the UAL in approximately 2036.
How IPERS differs from a defined contribution plan
IPERS provides a guaranteed lifetime monthly benefit. Benefits from a defined contribution plan may not last until death and are dependent on the performance of the stock market.
IPERS provides disability benefits to qualified members. Usually, defined contribution plans do not offer disability benefits.
IPERS does not charge fees to its members to manage its investment program. Administrative expenses are paid from the IPERS Trust Fund. Members of a defined contribution plan often pay extra management fees.
Advantages of IPERS membership
IPERS the agency does not profit from managing the fund. IPERS provides predictable retirement benefits based on a simple formula, not on stock market performance.
IPERS is a healthy, well-funded retirement plan. IPERS’ administrators continually scrutinize IPERS’ finances. With oversight from the IPERS Investment Board and the Benefits Advisory Committee, IPERS’ administrators continually evaluate and improve the plan’s programs and sustainability.
The Iowa Legislature authorizes spending from the IPERS Trust Fund for administrative expenses. IPERS closely monitors and negotiates investment management expenses and operates with a small, efficient staff. View the latest Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.
IPERS provides death and disability benefits that protect you and your family.
You are always entitled to 100% of your IPERS contributions and interest earnings. If you change jobs to another IPERS-covered position, you will continue to contribute to your retirement account. If you leave IPERS-covered employment for a non-covered employer, you may leave your money with IPERS, receive a refund of your contributions or roll all or some of your money to another qualified retirement plan such as a 401(k) or an IRA.
