Pension Neutrality: Nevada

Analysis of Nevada's policies

Nevada's pension system is based on a benefit formula that is not neutral, meaning that each year of work does not accrue pension wealth in a uniform way until teachers reach conventional retirement age, such as that associated with Social Security.

Teachers' retirement wealth is determined by their monthly payments and the length of time they expect to receive those payments. Monthly payments are usually calculated as final average salary multiplied by years of service multiplied by a set multiplier (such as 1.5). Higher salary, more years of service or a greater multiplier increases monthly payments and results in greater pension wealth. Earlier retirement eligibility with unreduced benefits also increases pension wealth, because more payments will be received.

To qualify as neutral, a pension formula must utilize a constant benefit multiplier and an eligibility timetable based solely on age, rather than years of service. Basing eligibility for retirement on years of service creates unnecessary and often unfair peaks in pension wealth, while allowing unreduced retirement at a young age creates incentives to retire early. Plans that change their multipliers for various years of service do not value each year of teaching equally. Therefore, plans with a constant multiplier and that base retirement on an age in line with Social Security are likely to create the most uniform accrual of wealth.

Nevada's pension plan is commended for utilizing a constant benefit multiplier of 2.5 percent; however, teachers may retire before standard retirement age based on years of service without a reduction in benefits. Teachers with 30 years of service may retire at any age, and those with 10 years of service may retire at age 62, while other vested teachers may not retire until age 65. Therefore, teachers who begin their careers at age 22 can reach 30 years of service by age 52, entitling them to 13 additional years of unreduced retirement benefits beyond what other teachers would receive who may not retire until age 65. These provisions may encourage effective teachers to retire earlier than they might otherwise, and they fail to treat equally those teachers who enter the system at a later age.

Citation

Public Employees' Retirement System, Summary Plan Description for Regular Members Enrolled on or after January 1, 2010 http://www.nvpers.org/public/beneProgs/regPlan-EnrolAfter-1-1-2010.pdf

Recommendations for Nevada

End retirement eligibility based on years of service.
Nevada should change its practice of allowing teachers with 30 years of service to retire at any age and teachers with 10 years of service to retire at age 62, both with full benefits. If retirement at an earlier age is offered to some teachers, benefits should be reduced accordingly to compensate for the longer duration they will be awarded.

Align eligibility for retirement with unreduced benefits with Social Security retirement age.
Nevada allows all teachers to retire before conventional retirement age, some as young as 52. As life expectancies continue to increase, teachers may draw out of the system for many more years than they contributed. This is not compatible with a financially sustainable system (see Goal 4-H).

State response to our analysis

Nevada disagreed that service based retirement provisions are incompatible with "financially sustainable" pension systems. The state maintained that the normal cost of the benefit structure in Nevada (including service based provisions)  has been steady for over a decade, and average retirement ages have been increasing, with the average member (including teachers) retiring at age 61 with approximately 20 years of service. 

Last word

NCTQ does not assert that service-based retirement provisions are incompatible with financially sustainable pension systems. Retirement eligibility based on years of service does not treat all teachers equally and allows those that start teaching at an earlier age to receive a pension of much greater total worth than a teacher who taught the same number of years but began their career later. In addition, it creates unnecessary peaks in pension wealth that may encourage effective teachers to retire earlier than otherwise planned.