Kevin Kroskey's Ohio Faculty Advisor

Actuarial Valuation Shows COLA Change, Investment Returns Lead to Funding Gains During the October meeting of the State Teachers Retirement Board, actuarial consultant Segal Consulting presented key findings from its July 1, 2017, annual pension valuation report. This report provides a detailed look at the financial health of the pension fund. The most common ways to express the system’s financial condition are through the funded ratio and the funding period. This year’s valuation report shows the funded ratio — the value of assets compared to actuarial accrued liabilities (benefits earned by members of the system) — improved to 75.1% from 69.6% last year. The funding period — the amount of time needed to pay off the system’s unfunded liability under current assumptions and benefit levels — also improved, decreasing to 18.4 years from 26.6 last year. Segal shared that without the board’s action to reduce cost-of-living increases granted on or after July 1, 2017, to 0%, STRS Ohio