Nevada
Overview
The Nevada Public Employees Retirement System (NVPERS) is the sole state retirement system in Nevada, administering retirement and other benefits for employees of the state, public school teachers, and employees of political subdivisions that have elected to participate.
Plan Design
Substantially all employees of the State of Nevada and its political subdivisions participate in a traditional defined benefit plan as their primary retirement benefit.
According to the US Government Accountability Office, 4 percent of employees of state and local government in Nevada participate in Social Security.
Access plan design detail
Authorizing Statutes and Board Structure
Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 286 establishes the Nevada PERS and its board, composition, duties, and responsibilities, including oversight of assets.
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
The Board may invest the money in its funds in every kind of investment which persons of prudence, discretion and intelligence acquire or retain for their own account.
Legal Protections of Retirement Benefits
No explicit constitutional protection for public pension benefits, but courts provide protection based on the impairment of contract principles. The Nevada courts distinguish between "limited" and "absolute" vesting rights. When all retirement conditions are satisfied, retirement benefits are deemed to ripen into a full contractual obligation. Nicholas v. State, 992 P.2d 262 (Nev. 2000) (recognizing that pension rights become absolutely vested upon retirement at which time pension benefits are constitutionally protected against impairment); Pub. Emps.' Ret. Bd. v. Washoe County., 96 Nev. 718, 615 P.2d 972, 974 (Nev. 1980) (concluding that, in "rendering services and making contributions, an employee acquires a limited vested right to pension benefits"). (NV CONST., Article 1, §15) 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
![]() |
|
Population (2023) 3,194,176 |
|
---|---|
Nevada public pension statistics, per U.S. Census Bureau as of FY 2023 |
|
Assets |
$58.9 billion |
Active Members |
113,281 |
Annuitants |
82,967 |
Benefits Paid |
$3.4 billion |
Employee Contributions |
$1.2 billion |
Employer Contributions |
$1.2 billion |
Systems |
One state retirement system; there are no retirement systems in Nevada sponsored by local government. |
Other Resources
-
Report to the Retirement Board of the Public Employees Retirement System of Nevada, Independent Limited Review of Practices, Statistics, and Policies™ Aon Hewitt Ennis Knupp(November 2013)
-
Economic Impact for Nevada, National Institute on Retirement Security (March 2013)
-
Public Employees Retirement System of the State of Nevada: Analysis and Comparison of Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Retirement Plans, The Segal Group (December 2010)