Retirement Reclaimed

For charter schools,
by charter schools.

Verdara Charter Alliance offers educators and staff a pathway to guaranteed retirement income – at a fraction of the financial and administrative cost of typical retirement plans.1
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America’s retirement system is failing

Verdara exists to fix what’s broken.

Verdara provides retirement plans for the mission-driven workforces too often underserved by the systems around them.

We’re starting with America’s charter school community because:

More
than half

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of charter school educators and staff are excluded from state-funded 
retirement programs.2 

1 in 3

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public school educators would consider charter school instruction if offered a guaranteed income retirement plan.3
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0% of America’s educators

deserve the financial security of a guaranteed retirement income.
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0%

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of charter school educators would switch into an available guaranteed income retirement plan over their defined contribution plan.3
Introducing: Verdara Charter Alliance

Everybody benefits.

Our pooled employer plan brings schools together under one retirement alliance, reducing operating costs and eliminating duplicative fees through consolidation.
Built by retirement specialists, charter school experts, and philanthropists, Verdara Charter Alliance is more than a plan provider - we’re a public benefit corporation committed to doing what’s right for our schools and educators.



That means every decision is made to prioritize the interest of our stakeholders by improving service, expanding choice, and keeping costs low.

Schools leverage the innovative power of scale.

By establishing a nationwide charter alliance, we can unlock better pricing, offer sophisticated benefit designs, enhanced benefits, and manage the duties of fiduciary oversight on behalf of all participants.

Educators get the best of traditional and modern retirement plans. Guaranteed.

We offer the best feature of a traditional pension — a clear path to guaranteed retirement income — built into modern, cost-effective, and portable 401(k)s and 403(b)s.
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Similar Outcomes

Like a pension, Verdara Charter Alliance pooled plans offer a path to guaranteed retirement income for life. 
The longer an employee works, the more retirement income they  can accumulate – reducing or even eliminating the risk of outliving their savings.
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Different Liabilities

Unlike a pension, schools that join our pooled employer plan 
carry no risk of unfunded benefit liabilities.5 The guarantees are backed by insurers, 
not employers.

Join our first class.

Get in touch
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Chartering solutions for every school.

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Recruiting new talent

We help schools offer in-demand retirement plan benefit features like guaranteed lifetime income, financial education, and student loan matching that are typically out of reach for charters, giving you a competitive edge in today’s talent marketplace.
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Managing payroll

Our partners and platform can connect with over 300 payroll providers, including all major players, to offer both 180° and 360° integration.
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Newly funded charter schools

Verdara Charter Alliance can help new schools establish start-up plans without the administrative burden, freeing your team to focus on supporting students.6
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Frequently Asked Questions

Long-term benefits.
Less administrative burden.

How will joining Verdara Charter Alliance save our school money?

By pooling charter operators into one collective plan, we will be able to access institutional pricing models that can save as much as half the total plan cost of traditional charter school 401(k) and 403(b) retirement plans.

With audits handled annually at the master plan level and no hidden fees or revenue sharing, we can collectively unlock greater savings and benefits that ensure every dollar goes further for schools and educators.

How will Verdara Charter Alliance pooled plans save our administrative staff time?

No Form 5500. No annual plan audit. No quarterly investment committee meetings.

Instead of your team having to  manage compliance matters, Verdara takes on the fiduciary responsibilities of the pooled employer plan – handling filings like the Form 5500, taking care of investment oversight, and covering the cost and coordination required of audits and testing.

We manage compliance tasks and provide support, freeing your team to focus on what it does best: running great schools.

What administrative duties will our school be responsible for?

Verdara Charter Alliance can help new schools more easily establish start-up plans:  you adopt into a “ready-made” program with all the service providers, documentation, and participant support already in place.  You significantly reduce your administrative burden, freeing your team to focus on opening and supporting students.
For participating charter schools, your regular duties are as easy as 1-2-3:
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  1. Send payroll contributions on time
  2. Provide annual census data
  3. Monitor Verdara using our regular reports to ensure we’re continuing to act in your employees’ best interest

That’s it. Really.

Can I customize my school’s retirement plan?

With both 401(k) and 403(b) options, Verdara Charter Alliance gives you the flexibility to design a plan as unique as your educators and staff.

We offer turnkey packages suited to the needs of most charter schools as well as the ability to customize features – whether you want to maintain your current plan or level up your existing offering.

How does Verdara Charter Alliance provide guaranteed income?

We offer educators and staff access to a pension-like defined contribution plan, while still maintaining flexibility for participants to opt out if guaranteed income isn’t the right fit for their needs.

Participants in our guaranteed retirement income path start with an age-appropriate investment strategy focused on growing their asset balance while managing costs. Over time, they transition to a program that is customized to deliver diversification across continued growth opportunities and insurance products, such as fixed index annuities, that provide steady income for life.8 

Because our strategy begins to lock up income while a participant is working, they can start to build a sense of future retirement income security before they are ready to leave the workforce.

Have another question?

Get in touch
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© 2025 Verdara. All rights reserved.
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‍1 Verdara PPP LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Verdara Corp., will be the pooled plan provider of Verdara Charter Alliance 401(k) PEP and Verdara Charter Alliance 403(b) PEP when they are available starting January 2026.
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2 Verdara review and analysis of state laws, annual financial reports of public charter schools, public retirement system financial reports and lists of employers. 
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3 Equable Institute survey of 2,052 traditional public school and 992 public charter school educators, March 1, 2025 to April 21, 2025. 
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4 While Verdara’s pooled employer plans seek to leverage economies of scale to reduce costs, no guarantee can be made that your school’s net fees will be lower than under your existing plan. Actual cost-savings will vary depending on plan-specific variables, including such factors as the number of employees covered by the plan, total plan assets, contribution levels, the specific investment options selected by your employees, and any initial transition or implementation costs.

3 Participation in any lifetime-income investment option under the PEPs by any participant is optional. Income payments under those options — and any guarantees associated with them — depend on the terms of the underlying insurance or annuity contract (currently provided via a third-party, insurance-backed product). The insurance contract terms, payout amounts, any vesting or eligibility requirements, and other material features will be described in plan and fund disclosure materials.

4 As a participating employer under a PEP, you would retain fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA, including the duty to prudently select and monitor the pooled plan provider (e.g., Verdara).

5 Verdara Charter Alliance pooled plans are 401(k) and 403(b) defined contribution plans and therefore do not create future funding liabilities for employers. Employer contributions are required and are set by each employer at the time the plan is adopted. Any guaranteed retirement income is backed by the claims-paying ability of third-party insurance carriers, who hold the associated legal liabilities—not Verdara or participating employers.

6 Before deciding to adopt a Verdara Charter Alliance PEP, you should compare your existing plan’s fees, structure, investment options, participant demographics and potential transition or exit costs with those under our PEPs, using your plan documents. This side-by-side analysis will help you assess whether Verdara is likely to deliver net savings and an overall improved retirement benefit platform for your employees.

7 There still is a Form 5550 to file for the pooled employer plan, but Verdara handles compiling the details, signing off on the accuracy, and submitting. There still is a plan audit that might require some information shared from employers, but Verdara handles the costs and coordination of the plan audit. There still is at least quarterly investment oversight, but Verdara takes responsibility for this monitoring.

8 We utilize industry experts to manage your account based on your individual needs and goals, monitor growth through the early years of your career, and transition to guaranteed income options as you get closer to retirement. Specific allocations to asset classes, including those that offer guaranteed income, will vary based upon the unique financial facts and circumstances of the individual.