About Wyoming's Coalition
The Wyoming Coalition for a Healthy Retirement is in its seventh year of protecting the health and integrity of Wyoming’s public pension plan. We have worked to ensure the system is healthy by defeating bills that would have increased unfunded liabilities and by making sure contribution increases are not shouldered by employees alone but are split equally between employers and employees. The next step is securing a long-overdo cost-of-living adjustment for retirees, which would be the first in more than a decade.
The facts on WRS
-
The average service at retirement is 19.7 years, and about 19% of all retirees are career employees with 30 or more years of public service.
-
In 2015, WRS paid over $534 million in benefits.
-
About 78% of WRS payments remain in Wyoming and are recycled back in our economy.
Pamela’s Story
I am a Senior Administrative Assistant at Campbell County Public Works in Gillette, Wyoming. I chose this occupation because of the benefits – particularly WRS – and the work hours due to raising a family. I have been employed for 20 years and I truly enjoy assisting our customers with navigating the procedures involved with the government requirements in the successful completion of their individual projects.
The WRS was a huge part of my decision to work for Campbell County. The saying is ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ and I think that truly applies to our retirement benefits. Personally, I have no one to depend on but myself. I am no longer married and my retirement benefits are invaluable and irreplaceable to me.
I plan on working another 3-4 years and this is one of my most solid legs of my retirement stool. It is an ever-changing, scary world out there and at this point, I am out of recovery time. I beg you to remain steadfast in keeping the WRS whole and intact as it is today. What a comfort and a blessing it is to have this tool in my tool box for retirement.