Colorado PERA and Social Security: 2026 Guide for Couples

Last Updated: September 25, 2026

Most Colorado public employees who belong to Colorado PERA (the Public Employees' Retirement Association) do not pay into Social Security from their PERA job. PERA states that it "is a replacement for Social Security for most Colorado public employees," with the exception of a few Local Government Division employers. Until recently, that meant any Social Security benefit earned from other jobs could be cut by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), and spousal and survivor benefits could be cut by the Government Pension Offset (GPO). The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, repealed both provisions for benefits payable after December 2023. Your PERA pension itself is not affected.

Looking for the official Colorado PERA website? It's copera.org, where you manage your pension account, benefit estimates, and retirement application. Your Social Security record lives separately at my Social Security on ssa.gov. This guide explains how the two systems interact.

Check your updated Social Security benefit estimate →

The Two-System Picture: Colorado PERA and Social Security

Colorado PERA says it provides retirement and other benefits to more than 730,000 current and former public employees, including classroom teachers, State Troopers, snowplow drivers, corrections officers, judges, and local and State employees, working for more than 400 government agencies and public entities. For funding purposes, members and employers are divided into five divisions:

• State Division
• School Division (school districts other than Denver Public Schools)
• Local Government Division
• Judicial Division
• Denver Public Schools (DPS) Division

Colorado is one of the states where a large share of the public workforce sits outside Social Security. A June 2026 PERA article, citing a Coalition to Preserve Retirement Security report, notes that "more than four million public employees across the country today are not covered by Social Security, and nearly 250,000 of them are in Colorado." PERA also points out that the Colorado General Assembly created PERA in 1931, four years before the federal government established Social Security.

For most PERA members, that means:

• No Social Security (OASDI) tax is withheld from PERA-covered paychecks
• No Social Security credits are earned from PERA employment
• A PERA pension is earned instead. PERA's own booklet describes the plan as serving "as a substitute for Social Security" for most members

The exception to check: PERA says members "typically do not pay into Social Security for your PERA employment (with the exception of a few Local Government Division employers)." If you work for a local government employer, look at your pay stub. If Social Security (OASDI) tax is withheld, that job is covered and is building Social Security credits.

If you also earned Social Security from other work, such as a private-sector career before or after public service, PERA says "you'll receive benefit payments from both PERA and Social Security in retirement. These are separate benefits and neither affects the other."

What the Fairness Act Means for Colorado PERA Members

Because most PERA members did not pay Social Security tax on their PERA wages, two federal rules used to reduce the Social Security benefits they earned elsewhere or through a spouse:

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) used a modified formula to lower your own Social Security retirement benefit if you also received a pension from non-covered work. See our Windfall Elimination Provision guide for how the old formula worked.

The Government Pension Offset (GPO) reduced Social Security spousal or survivor benefits by two-thirds of your non-covered government pension. If two-thirds of the pension equaled or exceeded the spousal or survivor benefit, that benefit could be reduced to zero. Our Government Pension Offset explainer covers the history.

Both provisions are gone. The Social Security Fairness Act ended WEP and GPO for benefits payable for months after December 2023. For a Colorado PERA household, that means:

• Your own Social Security benefit from covered work is now figured with the standard formula
• A PERA retiree married to a Social Security-covered spouse can now receive spousal and survivor benefits without the two-thirds offset
• Your PERA pension amount does not change. PERA's FAQ is direct: "the repeal of WEP/GPO only affects Social Security benefits; your PERA benefit is not affected by Social Security or any other benefits."
• You do not start paying Social Security tax. PERA confirms "the bill does not make any changes to who contributes to Social Security; it only modifies how benefits are calculated."

For the full legal background, see our Social Security Fairness Act guide.

Retroactive Payments: What Colorado PERA Members May Be Owed

The repeal applies to benefits payable for January 2024 and later. PERA notes that "benefits paid in 2023 and earlier will not be adjusted."

On February 25, 2025, the Social Security Administration announced it was beginning to pay retroactive benefits and raise monthly payments for people affected by WEP and GPO. SSA later reported that by July 7, 2025, it had completed action on the roughly 2.8 million beneficiary records it identified and had sent more than 3.1 million payments totaling $17 billion.

If you were already collecting a reduced benefit, you should have seen a higher monthly payment and a one-time retroactive payment covering the increase back to January 2024.

To verify your payment: Log in to ssa.gov/myaccount and review your benefit history. If you believe you were affected and have not seen a change, call SSA at 1-800-772-1213. PERA itself cannot adjust your Social Security benefit and directs members to SSA for those questions.

If you never applied for spousal or survivor benefits because GPO would have wiped them out, the math is now different. Contact SSA about filing.

The Colorado PERA Annual Increase: How It Works

PERA calls its cost-of-living adjustment the annual increase (AI). It is paid once a year in July. According to PERA's July 2026 fact sheet, Annual Increases for Benefit Recipients:

• The 2026 AI is 1.0%, paid with the July 31, 2026 benefit, for both PERA benefit structure groups (membership before or on/after January 1, 2007) and for all DPS benefit structure members.
• For members whose PERA membership began on or after January 1, 2007, the AI is "the lesser of the AI cap or the average of the monthly CPI-W for the previous calendar year, and cannot exceed 10% of the divisional AI reserve."
• There is a waiting period. For retirement dates on or after January 1, 2011, you must receive a benefit for 36 months before your first AI in retirement, plus meet a July timing rule. Reduced service retirees must also reach age 60, or the age-and-service combination for an unreduced benefit, by January 1 of the year the AI is paid.

The automatic adjustment provision can move the AI. It reviews PERA's progress toward full funding every June:

• If PERA is ahead of schedule, the AI can rise by up to 0.25% in one year, not to exceed a cap of 2.0%
• If PERA is behind schedule, the AI can fall by up to 0.25% in one year, not below a floor of 0.5%

PERA's June 2026 fact sheet states that, based on its 2025 financial report, PERA is on schedule to meet its funding goal, so the provision "will not trigger any additional changes in 2027." The AI paid in July 2027 for most eligible benefit recipients will be 1.0%.

PERA Annual Increase vs. Social Security COLA

Sources: PERA Annual Increases fact sheet, PERA Automatic Adjustment Provision fact sheet.

Why this matters for couples: In 2026, Social Security's 2.8% COLA is almost three times PERA's 1.0% annual increase. For PERA households with Social Security from other work, that benefit is the income stream most closely tied to inflation, which makes claiming it well especially important.

The 40-Credit Requirement: What PERA Doesn't Provide

PERA employment does not build Social Security credits for most members. To qualify for a Social Security retirement benefit on your own record, you need 40 credits, which is roughly 10 years of covered work. You can earn up to four credits per year.

Many PERA members have covered work somewhere in their history, such as a private-sector career before public service or a job with a Local Government Division employer that participates in Social Security. See how Social Security work credits are earned.

If your entire career was in PERA-covered, non-Social Security jobs, you have no Social Security benefit of your own, and the Fairness Act has nothing to restore. You may still qualify for spousal or survivor benefits on a spouse's record, and those are no longer reduced by GPO.

Check in a few minutes: Your earnings history at ssa.gov/myaccount shows wages for covered years and zeros for non-covered PERA years.

A separate check: Medicare. State and local employees hired or rehired after March 31, 1986 are generally covered for Medicare, meaning they pay Medicare tax even when they don't pay Social Security tax. Those Medicare-taxed years count toward the 40 quarters for premium-free Part A. Members hired before that date who stayed in continuous employment may not have paid Medicare tax, so check your W-2 for Medicare wages. Without 40 quarters on your own or a spouse's record, 2026 Part A costs $311 per month (30 to 39 quarters) or $565 per month (fewer than 30). Source: CMS 2026 Medicare premiums.

Claiming Strategy for Couples With a PERA Pension and Social Security

For married couples, three levers matter most.

1. Social Security claiming age. For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67. Claiming at 62 permanently cuts your benefit by 30%. Waiting to 70 raises it to 124% of the full amount.

2. Spousal benefits are back on the table. A spouse can receive up to 50% of the worker's full-retirement-age benefit. Before 2024, GPO often erased this for PERA retirees. Now a PERA retiree married to a spouse with a long Social Security record may qualify for a spousal benefit. Model both records together with our spousal benefits calculator.

3. Coordinate the PERA benefit option with the survivor plan. When you retire, PERA asks you to choose Option 1, 2, or 3:

• Option 1: A lifetime monthly benefit for you only
• Option 2: A reduced lifetime benefit; after your death, your cobeneficiary receives a lifetime benefit equal to half of your benefit
• Option 3: A reduced lifetime benefit; after your death, your cobeneficiary receives a lifetime benefit equal to the benefit you were receiving

Your choice of cobeneficiary is irrevocable unless certain conditions apply, and PERA's FAQ confirms that the WEP/GPO repeal alone does not let you change your option after retirement. Because GPO no longer reduces Social Security survivor benefits, a surviving spouse may now receive both a PERA continuing benefit and a full Social Security survivor benefit. That can change which PERA option makes sense. It also makes the higher earner's Social Security claiming age more important, because a surviving spouse's Social Security benefit is based on the deceased spouse's benefit. See our survivor benefits guide.

Steps to Take Now

1. Log in to ssa.gov/myaccount. Check your earnings record and your benefit estimate, which no longer reflects WEP.

2. Confirm your PERA estimate. Log in at copera.org to see your projected pension at different retirement dates. Retirement eligibility under the PERA benefit structure is age 65, or an age-and-service combination that depends on when your membership began, so confirm which table applies to you.

3. If married, run both records together. Compare spousal, survivor, and own-record benefits for each spouse now that GPO is gone, then choose the PERA benefit option with that full picture in mind.

4. If widowed, contact SSA. If a survivor benefit was reduced or denied because of GPO, the repeal reaches back to January 2024.

5. Plan for taxes. A PERA pension plus Social Security can raise the share of Social Security that is taxable. Check PERA's Taxes on PERA Benefits booklet and IRS rules before you set withholding.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Colorado PERA members pay into Social Security?

Most do not. Colorado PERA describes itself as a replacement for Social Security for most Colorado public employees, and members typically do not pay Social Security tax on PERA wages. The exception is a small number of Local Government Division employers that participate in Social Security. Your pay stub settles it: if Social Security (OASDI) tax is withheld, that job is building Social Security credits.

Does the Social Security Fairness Act change my PERA pension?

No. The Fairness Act changed only how Social Security benefits are calculated. It removed the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset for benefits payable after December 2023. Colorado PERA confirms your PERA benefit is not affected, and the law does not require PERA members to start paying Social Security tax. What changes is your Social Security check, which may now be higher.

How much is the Colorado PERA annual increase in 2026?

The 2026 annual increase is 1.0%, paid with the July 31, 2026 benefit. For members whose PERA membership began on or after January 1, 2007, the increase is the lesser of the cap or the prior year's average CPI-W, limited by the division's reserve. The automatic adjustment provision can move the rate by up to 0.25% a year, between a 0.5% floor and a 2.0% cap.

Can I get Social Security spousal benefits with a PERA pension?

Yes. Before 2024, the Government Pension Offset reduced spousal and survivor benefits by two-thirds of a non-covered pension, often to zero. The Fairness Act ended that for benefits payable from January 2024 on. If your spouse has a Social Security record and you meet the normal eligibility rules, you can now receive a spousal benefit of up to 50% of their full-retirement-age amount.

Can I change my PERA benefit option now that GPO is gone?

Generally no. Colorado PERA says changes to your benefit option after retirement are allowed only in specific circumstances, such as marriage, divorce, or a cobeneficiary's death. The WEP and GPO repeal is not one of them. If you have not retired yet, factor full Social Security survivor benefits into your choice between Option 1, 2, and 3 before you file.

Additional Resources

• Colorado PERA Official Website — Member account, benefit estimates, retirement application
• PERA: Social Security Fairness Act (WEP/GPO) FAQs — PERA's own answers on the repeal
• PERA: Social Security and Your PERA Benefit — Which members pay into Social Security
• PERA Annual Increases for Benefit Recipients — Current AI rates and eligibility rules
• PERA Automatic Adjustment Provision — How the AI and contributions adjust each year
• SSA Social Security Fairness Act — Official SSA guidance on WEP/GPO elimination
• SSA myAccount — Check your Social Security earnings record and benefit estimates

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Social Security benefit estimation worksheets for mixed covered/non-covered work histories Spousal and survivor benefit coordination guide (post-GPO) Pension and Social Security income planning Tax planning for retirement income from multiple sources

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Other state pension systems:

• TRS Texas — Texas teachers
• CalSTRS — California teachers

Continue learning:

• Social Security for Teachers and Government Workers — Non-covered states

This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. Social Security rules are complex and individual situations vary. Pension system details may change — verify with your plan administrator. Consult a qualified professional for personalized guidance. Benefora is not affiliated with the Social Security Administration or any state pension system.