U.S. Federal Pension (Defined-Benefit) Assets

## What this measures

The assets held by the federal government's defined-benefit retirement funds for civilian and military employees.

## Why it matters

They are part of total U.S. retirement assets, though unlike other pension funds they hold claims on the government itself.

## How to read it

It was $3,273 billion in the second quarter of 2026, nearly all of it Treasury securities held by the civil service and military retirement funds.

## What it does not say

Z.1 values are end-of-quarter levels in nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation, and they move with stock and bond prices as much as with saving. The Fed revises past quarters with each release. These funds hold Treasury securities issued to them, so the assets are a claim on the same government that owes the pensions.

## Source

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1), series FL342000075 (FRED series BOGZ1FL342000075Q). Palanor pulls it from the FRED API (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) nightly.