The Wealth Extraction Pension - Risk Transfer in a Non Social Security State

My name is Trina Prufer and I am a retired school psychologist. 

For generations, Ohio’s teachers were promised a traditional defined-benefit pension that provided financial security by including a COLA in the design. 

In a traditional defined-benefit system, the promise is absolute. The benefit is guaranteed because the employer absorbs the risk and the contribution rate varies based on need. When the math is ignored, the system can accumulate debt, which with interest, can spiral out of control. 

Prior to 2012, the State of Ohio assured members that their benefit was secure, sufficient and legally protected. In fact, between 2002 and 2012, the benefit was defined by law as a bracketed inclusive set of 29 statutes (3307.50-3307.79) reiterated 56 times in Chapter 3307 of the Ohio Revised Code.

But lurking in the background was the design flaw that no one had shared with members. In the 1980s, the employer contribution rate had been capped at 14%, which worked in an upswing market but racked up debt in times of stress. Predictably, the system failed, and instead of fixing the model, the system shifted its self-inflicted debt onto members. 

What we have today is a bait and switch pension. Members and the districts each contribute 14%, (28% total), for a benefit with a normal cost of only 11%. Members are paying for inflation protection, they are just not receiving it. The current benefit model, which has no COLA obligation at all, acts as a risk-transfer, non Social Security, wealth-extraction mechanism. It is one of the most dangerous, irresponsible public pension models in the country because it is designed to extract wealth, not fund retirements. If a private corporation did this, it would be considered fraud. 

The difference between receiving a simple 3% COLA, and no COLA at all, is 30-35% of the total pension payout. No retiree can survive for 20-30 years on 67% of a teacher’s salary without a dependable COLA or Social Security as a safety net . We are now 14 years into this disgraceful model, and the worst is yet to come.

No public worker should be trapped in a pension system that cannibalizes its own to cover up past institutional mistakes. 

Trina Prufer addressed the STRS Ohio Retirement Board on October 22, 2026.