The Georgia Teachers Retirement System (TRS) held its bimonthly meeting May 15, 2024. The board received the executive director’s operational report, heard a legislative update, reviewed 2023 actuarial valuation results, adopted FY 2026 employee and employer contribution rates, and selected board leadership and committees.
Meeting materials are available HERE.
Executive Director’s Report: Source of TRS Benefits & Importance of Updating Beneficiaries
TRS Executive Director Buster Evans thanked several retiring TRS employees for their service and provided an update on the work of TRS operational divisions, including the financial services division. Evans presented the financial services slide below, which outlines the growth of TRS member benefits and the combined sources of benefits: employee contributions, employer and non-employer contributions, and net investment earnings. He reported that TRS pays out more than $6 billion annually in member benefits.
Later in his presentation, Evans noted the average TRS member retirement age is growing, which also strengthens the TRS net position.
He stressed that only about half of TRS members have a designated beneficiary, and it is important for members to update beneficiaries, which can be accomplished in the TRS portal.
Fiduciary Net Position & FY 2024 Rate of Return
The TRS net position in March 2023 was $91,691,389,295.
The TRS net position in March of 2024 was $105,607,271,834.
The TRS net position in April of 2023 was $101,731,438,980.
The TRS net position in April of 2024 was $92,151,360,049.
Legislative Update: Impact on TRS of Teacher Raises, Return-to-Work Reauthorization Needed
Evans also provided a brief legislative update, as the 2024 legislative session concluded in late March. He reminded trustees that Georgia’s current return-to-work program, which allows educators to draw TRS benefits while working full-time in high-needs positions, must be reauthorized before the program sunsets in 2026. As fiscal retirement bills must be approved for actuarial study in the first year of legislative biennia, the PAGE-supported return-to-work program must be addressed by legislators next year to continue.
Review the PAGE 2024 Legislative Summary for more information on bills from the 2024 legislative session.
Actuarial Presentation: TRS Funded Ratio, Adoption of TRS Employee & Employer Shares
Cavanaugh McDonald provided an actuarial presentation, including information about TRS’s 78% funded ratio, in line with the nationwide average. Cavanaugh McDonald noted that passage of state teacher pay raises, while welcome and deserved, reduces the TRS funded ratio. The firm also recommended an increase in the TRS employer share to 21.91% (up from 20.78%). Trustees adopted the recommended employer share increase and opted to continue the employee share at 6%.
Election of Board Officers and Next TRS Meeting
After reelecting Deborah Simonds as board chair, the trustees adjourned until the next TRS meeting, July 24, 2024, at 10:30 a.m.
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