News You Should Know: IRS Releases Tax Adjustments for 2025

IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2025 | Internal Revenue Service

The new year is just two months away, and the Internal Revenue Service has announced some important tax-related updates. For tax year 2025, the IRS is making adjustments to various tax provisions based on inflation, including the standard deduction, marginal tax rates, earned income tax credits, and more.

Medicare Wants to Make These Generic Drugs Available for Just $2 | Quartz

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a list of dozens of prescription medications that may be included in a pilot program to provide low-cost generic versions of drugs. The drugs—which include popular medications such as inhalers, antibiotics, blood thinners, and cholesterol pills—would be available for $2 beginning in 2027.

New Blood Tests for Alzheimer’s May Allow for Earlier Detection | UCHealth Today

Multiple companies have been rolling out new blood tests to help screen for Alzheimer’s disease, aiming to someday replace expensive and invasive procedures like spinal taps and imaging scans. Experts at UCHealth say that while the new tests are promising, there’s still more research that needs to be done before they can be made widely available, and the tests are not yet FDA-approved or covered by insurance or Medicare.

How to Step Confidently Into Your Life After Retirement | Kiplinger

Retiring is a major life change that goes beyond a change in employment status, and that move often involves a shift in identity. Here are some tips for handling the transition and embracing a new phase of life.


News You Should Know is a digest of news from publications around the nation about finance, investing, and retirement.

PERA CIO/COO Amy C. McGarrity Named to SEC Advisory Committee

Advocating for fair and transparent markets is one of the cornerstones of Colorado PERA’s approach to investment stewardship, and Chief Investment Officer/Chief Operating Officer Amy C. McGarrity has taken on a new role to help further that mission at the federal level.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in September that McGarrity is one of six new members selected to join the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee.

The committee was created under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and its members include professionals and public officials with a range of experience and expertise in finance, investing and law. Members are tasked with advising the SEC and making recommendations on matters such as effective regulation, promoting market integrity, and protecting investor interests. Past recommendations have covered topics such as climate-related disclosures, investor education, and the rules governing financial account statements.

In addition to the SEC Investor Advisory Committee, PERA staff have been active in a number of industry organizations and advisory boards, such as the Council of Institutional Investors, Healthy Markets Association, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, advocating for practices that benefit our members.

“At Colorado PERA, we firmly believe in using our influence as an institutional investor to advocate for strong and fair markets on behalf of the nearly 700,000 members we’re investing for,” McGarrity said. “I’m honored to be selected to serve on the Investor Advisory Committee and I look forward to working with my fellow committee members on some meaningful recommendations in the years ahead.”

McGarrity and the other members of the committee will serve four-year terms.

State Lawmakers Pursuing Two PERA-Related Bills in 2025

Lawmakers in Colorado are moving forward with two PERA-related bill drafts following a summer of legislative activity in interim committees.

PERA leaders and staff have been meeting with legislators throughout the summer to provide updates, answer questions, and provide feedback during this annual period of PERA review and oversight.

Drafts of PERA-related bills

The Pension Review Commission, which is responsible for recommending legislation pertaining to PERA and the Fire and Police Pension Association of Colorado, met on Friday, September 27 to finalize two bill drafts related to PERA.

The first, known as Bill A, is similar to a bill from last session that would provide a temporary tax credit for PERA retirees to reduce the impact of inflation. The $700 credit would apply to retirees who are at least 65 years old and have adjusted gross income of no more than $38,000 for single filers or $76,000 for joint filers.

The second draft, Bill B, pertains to PERA studies and reporting. The bill aims to lay out in statute some of the work the PERA Board already does on a regular basis, such as periodic actuarial audits and actuarial experience studies. The bill also would modify the cadence of those reports.

The Commission had been considering a bill to tie to inflation the State’s annual $225 million direct distribution to PERA, based on a recommendation from the Pension Review Subcommittee. Lawmakers decided not to move forward with that bill as one of their official interim committee-recommended pieces of legislation because of its added cost amid a projected shortfall in the state budget. Lawmakers may still decide individually to move forward with any particular bills during the legislative session.

Pension Review Subcommittee recommendations

Throughout the summer, PERA also engaged with the Pension Review Subcommittee, which consists of a mix of legislators and members of the public and reports up to the Pension Review Commission. In addition to making recommendations to the Pension Review Commission, the Subcommittee also makes recommendations to the PERA Board and writes an annual letter to the residents of Colorado on PERA’s financial health.

In the course of its work, the Pension Review Subcommittee came up with three recommendations for the PERA Board:

  1. Provide more detail on the benchmarks PERA uses to measure performance of the various asset classes in the PERA Defined Benefit Plan portfolio.
  2. Improve transparency around PERA Board meetings by making meeting recordings and materials more easily accessible online.
  3. Study the impact of allowing non-vested PERA members who refund their account to receive their balance plus investment returns instead of the current Board-established 3% compounding interest.

The PERA Board discussed the recommendations at its September Planning Session and agreed to consider all three. Investment staff provided the Subcommittee with the information requested on benchmarks, the Board agreed to archive meeting recordings and public materials online starting in November; meetings are currently streamed live and available upon request. The Board also agreed staff will study the cost of providing market returns when a member refunds their account.

What’s next?

All bill drafts from interim committees go to the Legislative Council Committee for consideration. If approved, lawmakers can then introduce those bills in the next legislative session, which begins on January 8, 2025.

The PERA Board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is set for November 15.

PERA’s Proxy Voting Policy Receives an Update

Every year—often in the spring—publicly traded companies hold shareholder meetings and ask their investors to weigh in on issues such as corporate leadership and policies. It’s an important process, and one Colorado PERA takes seriously as an institutional investor.

At its September 20 meeting, the PERA Board of Trustees voted to approve updates to its Proxy Voting Policy, which guides staff in exercising PERA’s shareholder voting rights.

What is proxy voting?

Simply put, proxy voting is the process that allows shareholders—individuals who own stock in a company, as well as institutional investors like PERA—to provide their input on corporate management decisions without having to be present at shareholder meetings. Proxy voting matters can come from a company’s board or its shareholders, and they cover important decisions such as approving the members of the board, mergers, acquisitions, and the types of disclosures a company makes to its shareholders.

The PERA Board believes the shareholder right to vote is an asset of the plans to be managed under fiduciary care. Because PERA invests to provide retirement income for nearly 700,000 current and former public employees, our focus is on voting to encourage corporate behavior that can generate long-term financial value. Proxy voting is one way we practice investment stewardship for the benefit of our members.  

In 2023, PERA cast votes on more than 68,000 proposals in more than 6,000 shareholder meetings. The overwhelming majority of those proposals—more than 99%—were related to corporate governance.

“Governance matters have always been our focus, and can include things like board elections and executive compensation,” said Senior Investment Stewardship Analyst Luz Rodriguez. “Those decisions can impact a company’s financial performance, which can, in turn, affect the investments we make on behalf of PERA members.”

Updating PERA’s policy

Over the course of several months, PERA staff have worked closely with the Board’s Investment Committee to review and update the Proxy Voting Policy. The full Board approved those changes in September, and they will go into effect in January 2025. The last update took place in 2021.

While some of the updates simply clean up or clarify language in the policy, others are more substantive and aim to provide additional information on PERA’s voting philosophy and processes. They include:

  • Clarifying PERA’s focus on governance matters. Not only are most proxy voting proposals related to corporate governance, but there’s a good body of research supporting the role of good governance in generating long-term value for shareholders.
  • Broadening the general scope of the policy to be more reflective of PERA’s global investments. For example, the updated policy refers to generally accepted accounting standards rather than U.S.-specific standards and expands language on greenhouse gas emission disclosures.
  • Clarifying which duties and responsibilities fall under the Board’s governance policy versus general practices. The Board is responsible for overseeing PERA’s investment program, including proxy voting. The Investment Committee is responsible for recommending changes to, and monitoring compliance with, governance and proxy voting policies, and staff is responsible for voting and reporting proxies.
  • Expanding on PERA’s approach to corporate board composition. The updated policy states that PERA will vote for proposals asking a company to provide a skills matrix that outlines the skills, experiences, background, and qualifications of board members, which can help give shareholders a better understanding of a board’s collective capabilities. The updated policy also states PERA will vote against certain director nominees if the company’s board does not provide this disclosure.

Through regular review and updates to the Proxy Voting Policy, the Board ensures that PERA’s policies effectively guide staff in engaging with the companies in which we invest in order to maximize risk-adjusted returns for our members.

“Our goal in voting proxies isn’t to dictate what companies do, but to encourage them to adopt sound governance practices that foster profitability and long-term shareholder value,” Rodriguez said. “As stewards of investments for nearly 700,000 current and former public employees, we take our shareholder responsibilities seriously.”

Take a deeper dive into proxy voting and PERA’s approach to investment stewardship by exploring the 2024 Investment Stewardship Report.

News You Should Know: How the Pandemic Affected Retirement Planning

Retirement Redefined: How the Pandemic and Economic Factors Are Shaping Retirement Plans Among Older Americans | CivicScience

More than four years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re still seeing some of the effects of the public health crisis and new data attempt to shed some light on how the pandemic affected retirement planning. Survey data from CivicScience found most adults at or near retirement age said they did not leave the workforce during the pandemic, but older workers (65+) were more likely to say they left work and didn’t return. Of those who left the workforce and returned, more than half expect to work past the age of 65.

Most Americans Want Congress To Fix Social Security and Medicare Shortfalls ASAP | Investopedia

In a recent survey, respondents made it clear that shoring up Social Security and Medicare are top priorities for ensuring retirement security. The survey from the Transamerica Institute for Retirement Studies found over 60 percent of people think the government needs to prioritize filling Social Security’s funding shortfall and over 50 percent think Medicare’s funding should be a priority.

Farewell Paper I-Bonds: Savings Bonds Are Going Online Only | Kiplinger

The last remaining paper savings bond is about to go all digital. The U.S. Treasury announced taxpayers will no longer be able to buy paper Series I bonds with their tax returns starting January 1, 2025. Electronic versions of I and EE bonds have been available for purchase online through TreasuryDirect for about two decades, and banks stopped selling paper savings bonds in 2012.

Beautiful Towns In Colorado That Are Great For Retirement | The Travel

While many people like to stay put in retirement and age at home, many others like to pack up in search of a change in scenery or a better way of life. This list aims to identify the best towns in Colorado for retirees with a focus on crime and cost of living.


News You Should Know is a digest of news from publications around the nation about finance, investing, and retirement.