Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The New Jersey Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund has no COLA to pay. The TPAF member guidebook says the Pension and Health Benefit Reform Law suspended cost-of-living adjustments for retirees of all retirement systems, with no reduction to COLA increases added before June 28, 2011. A pension committee may consider reinstating the COLA only once the system, or the relevant State or local part of it, reaches a target funded ratio of 75%, rising to 80%. No 2027 COLA is set.
More on public pension retirement ages and eligibility: the New Jersey TPAF retirement age and eligibility rules by tier.
What the Division of Pensions says
The TPAF member guidebook says: “the Pension and Health Benefit Reform Law, suspended Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) for retirees of all retirement systems.” “there is no reduction to any COLA increases that were already added to retiree benefits prior to June 28, 2011, the effective date of the law.”
The Division’s reform page adds: “Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) were suspended for all retirees of all retirement systems. No further COLA increases will be granted;” “the provision does not reduce any benefit for COLA increases that were already made to retiree benefits prior to the effective date of the law.”
When a COLA could return
The reform page defines the funded ratio the committees look at: “means a ratio of the value of assets against the accrued liabilities of 75% and increasing annually by equal increments over seven fiscal years to a ratio of 80%.”
What the documents do not say
The documents read do not state the last COLA granted before the suspension, and they show no reactivation by any pension committee. This page does not guess at either.
Where 2027 stands
No 2027 TPAF COLA is set: the 2011 suspension stands in the documents read, and this page updates if a pension committee reinstates the COLA.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a yearly COLA. The guidebook says COLAs are suspended for retirees of all retirement systems.
- Assuming the suspension removed increases a retiree already had. The guidebook says it did not reduce increases added before June 28, 2011.
- Counting on reinstatement. It depends on the funded ratio and on a pension committee.
Related: New Jersey TPAF retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether New Jersey taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- NJ Division of Pensions and Benefits, TPAF Member Guidebook: www.nj.gov
- NJ Division of Pensions and Benefits, Pension and Health Benefit Reform 2011 (Chapter 78): www.nj.gov
Read from the primary documents linked above on October 30, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer or the IRS itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.