Nebraska

Overview

The Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems (NPERS) is the sole state retirement system in Nebraska, administering retirement and other benefits for employees of the state, public school teachers, and employees of political subdivisions that have elected to participate. One county in the state and roughly a dozen cities also sponsor retirement systems.

Effective September 1, 2024, NPERS has responsibility for administering retirement benefits for the Omaha School Employees’ Retirement System.

Plan Design

Employees of the state, except members of the state highway patrol, and counties participate in hybrid, cash balance plans. School teachers participate in a traditional defined benefit plan, as do most employees of local government that sponsor their own retirement plan.

According to the US Government Accountability Office, 91 percent of employees of state and local government in Nebraska participate in Social Security.

Access plan design detail

Authorizing Statutes and Board Structure

Nebraska Revised Statute 84-1501 et seq. establishes the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement board, its composition, duties, and responsibilities.

NPERS assets, including those of the Omaha School ERS, are managed by the Nebraska Investment Council.

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

Nebraska Revised Statute 72-1237:

The appointed members of the council shall act with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in like capacity and familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a like character and with like aims by diversifying the investments of the assets of the retirement systems, the Nebraska educational savings plan trust, the achieving a better life experience program, and state funds so as to minimize risk of large losses, unless in light of such circumstances it is clearly prudent not to do so. No assets of the retirement systems, the Nebraska educational savings plan trust, or the achieving a better life experience program shall be invested or reinvested if the sole or primary investment objective is for economic development or social purposes or objectives.

Legal Protections of Retirement Benefits

Nothing in this section shall prevent local governing bodies from reviewing and adjusting vested pension benefits periodically as prescribed by ordinance. NE CONST., Article Ill, §17; Calabro v. City of Omaha, 531 N.W.2d 541 (Neb. 1995) (holding that constitutionally protected contract rights vested upon acceptance of employment and that elimination of plan violated contract clause in Article 1, Sec. 10 of U.S. Constitution); but see Livengood v. Nebraska State Patrol Retirement System, 729 N.W.2d 55 (Neb. 2007) (reduction in sick leave hours in the collective bargaining agreement did not unconstitutionally impair prior contractual right). (NE CONST., Article Ill, §19; Article XV, §17) 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 Nebraska (July 16, 1963)

Population (2024) 2,005,465

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

Assets

$26.7 billion

Active Members

84,008

Annuitants

48,476

Benefits Paid

$1.6 billion

Employee Contributions

$477.1 million

Employer Contributions

$660.0 million

Systems

One state retirement system that accounts for 79 percent of public pension assets and 82 percent of public pension plan participants in the state. One county and 12 cities also sponsor retirement systems in Nebraska.

Other Resources


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.