Delaware

Overview

The Delaware Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) administers retirement benefits for nearly all public employees in the state. Delaware PERS administers nine different pension plans:
  • State Employees' Pension Plan
  • Special Pension Plan
  • New State Police Pension Plan
  • Judiciary Pension Plans (closed and revised)
  • County & Municipal Police/Fireman's Pension Plan
  • County & Municipal Employees' Pension Plan
  • Volunteer Fireman's Pension Plan
  • Diamond State Port Corporation Pension Plan
  • Closed State Police Pension Plan
The State Employees' Pension Plan includes public school teachers and its membership comprises about 82 percent of all active members in the state.
 

Plan Design

Defined benefit plans serve as the primary retirement benefit for substantially all public employees in Delaware.

According to the US Government Accountability Office, 92 percent of employees of state and local government in Delaware participate in Social Security.

Access plan design detail

Authorizing Statutes and Board Structure

29 DE Code § 5541 creates the State Employees' Pension Plan. 29 DE Code § 8308 establishes the Board of Pension Trustees, which is comprised of 7 members.

Details regarding the composition of these and other retirement boards is accessible via the Retirement and Investment Board Characteristics search tool located at the bottom of this page.

Fiduciary Duty/Prudence Standard

29 DE Code § 8308 describes the fiduciary responsibilities of the board:

The Board is subject to a standard of care in which the Board, its committees, and each of the committees’ members shall discharge their duties with respect to each plan listed under subsection (b) of this section solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of such plans and for the exclusive purpose of providing plan benefits to participants and their beneficiaries, including defraying reasonable expenses of administering each plan, with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use to attain the purposes of such plan.

Legal Protections of Retirement Benefits

Courts recognize contractual rights for vested employees who have fulfilled retirement eligibility requirements. See In re State Employees' Pension Plan, Del. Supr., 364 A.2d 1228 (1976); State ex rei. State Bd. of Pension Trs. v. Dineen, 409 A.2d 1256, 1259 (Dei.Ch.1979)(holding contract rights vest upon completion of statutorily prescribed ten-year service requirement even though employee must wait until retirement age to collect). Article 15, §4 of the DE Const. also provides limited constitutional protection for elected/appointed public officers: No law shall extend the term of any public officer or diminish the salary or emoluments after his or her election or appointment." Source: Robert Klausner, Esq., State Constitutional Protections for Public Sector Retirement Benefits

See also the following search tools:

Retirement System Account Interest Policies Economic Actuarial Assumptions Retirement and Investment Board Characteristics
Information about interest rates applied to account balances of inactive plan participants Assumed rates of investment return and inflation Composition and characteristics of public retirement and investment oversight boards
Mortality Assumptions Plan Design Features Post-retirement Employment Policies
Public retirement system actuarial assumptions for mortality Numerous elements of retirement plan design Policies governing return-to-work for retirement system annuitants

More Data

Flag of Delaware (May 10, 1913)

Population (2024) 1,051,917

Delaware public pension statistics,
per U.S. Census Bureau as of FY 2024

Assets

$14.7 billion

Active Members

48,760

Annuitants

38,755

Benefits Paid

$962.5 million

Employee Contributions

$125.4 million

Employer Contributions

$433.0 million

Systems

One state system that accounts for 92 percent of assets and 94.5 percent of public pension plan participants in the state. The Census Bureau also reports 17 local systems.

More Data


Become A Member

Becoming a member of NASRA offers a unique opportunity to join a community committed to the sound, efficient, and innovative stewardship of public retirement systems. Membership connects you with a network of professionals and experts, providing valuable insights into managing public retirement systems with a focus on sustainability and risk-averse strategies.

By joining NASRA, you gain the tools and resources to enhance the management of public retirement systems, ensuring their long-term success and reliability for generations to come.


 

What's New at NASRA: Public Pension Investment Return Assumption Brief Updated

NASRA’s latest update to standing issue briefs, Public Pension Plan Investment Return Assumptions underscores the critical role the investment return assumption plays in the financial health of public pension plans. Of all actuarial assumptions, it has the greatest impact on plan funding levels and cost. This brief traces how a decade of low interest rates and inflation, beginning in 2009, prompted many plans to reduce their long-term expected returns in line with more modest capital market projections. However, since inflation began rising in early 2021, the trend toward lowering return assumptions has largely paused. While reducing a plan’s assumed return can increase both costs and unfunded liabilities, setting this assumption is a careful, thorough process. It draws on expert input from actuaries and investment professionals and is guided by actuarial standards of practice.