Every day across Texas, public employees serve their communities. They respond to emergencies. Keep streets and neighborhoods safe. Maintain public services. Answer calls from residents. Keep essential systems running. And perform thousands of other jobs that Texans depend on, often without much public attention.

For many of those employees, a secure retirement is part of the commitment that comes with a career spent serving others.

That is why TEXPERS is recognizing National Retirement Security Month throughout October under the theme:

Secure Retirement. Strong Public Service.

The month allows TEXPERS to highlight the connection between strong retirement systems, the public employees they serve and the communities that depend on them.

Retirement security is built over a career

Retirement does not begin on an employee's final day at work.

It is built over years of service, contributions, planning and responsible pension administration.

For public employees participating in defined-benefit retirement systems, pensions provide a structured source of retirement income governed by the rules of their individual plans. Behind those benefits are trustees, administrators, investment professionals, actuaries, attorneys and other specialists working to manage retirement systems for the long term.

Their work may happen behind the scenes, but it supports something very personal: public employees' ability to prepare for life after their working years.

That makes retirement security part of the larger public-service story.

As TEXPERS' October campaign puts it:

Retirement security strengthens the people who spend their careers serving Texas communities. TEXPERS October 2026 Communicat…

Security also means protecting information

Financial security is only one part of today's retirement-security conversation.

Pension systems also hold and manage sensitive information. Protecting that information, and the technology used to administer benefits, has become an important part of protecting retirement security itself.

October is also Cybersecurity Awareness Month, allowing TEXPERS to connect the two subjects.

Throughout the month, we will share practical information about phishing, identity protection, credentials and multifactor authentication, along with other cybersecurity practices relevant to retirement systems and the people they serve. TEXPERS October 2026 Communicat…

The connection is simple:

Protecting retirement security includes protecting the information and systems that support it. TEXPERS October 2026 Communicat…

The people behind the promise

October also allows TEXPERS to recognize the people who make public service possible.

That includes the firefighters, police officers and other first responders serving Texas communities. It includes employees working throughout the state and local government. And it includes pension system professionals who help public employees understand their benefits and prepare for retirement.

Some serve on the front lines.

Others serve behind the scenes.

All are part of the public-service story.

During October, TEXPERS will highlight both groups while sharing information designed to help members consider retirement security from several angles, including the role of defined-benefit pensions, beneficiary and survivor-benefit information, cybersecurity, and the work of the people who administer public retirement systems.

A month to look at the bigger picture

National Retirement Security Month provides a natural moment to think beyond a single benefit statement, investment report or retirement date.

It is an opportunity to consider the entire system that supports a public employee throughout a career and into retirement.

For trustees and administrators, that means continuing to oversee retirement systems responsibly.

For public employees and retirees, it means understanding their benefits, keeping important information up to date, and staying engaged with their retirement system.

And for TEXPERS, it means continuing to tell the story of the people, institutions, and professionals working every day to support retirement security across Texas.

Because behind every pension is a person who spent a career serving a community.

Secure Retirement. Strong Public Service.

About the Author: Allen Jones is the director of communications and event marketing for TEXPERS, where he leads editorial strategy, member communications, conference marketing, and digital engagement initiatives for Texas public employee retirement systems. He began his journalism career in 1998 and has worked in journalism and communications for more than 25 years.