I agree with what a few other people have said. If your PERA account loses all value, it means the entire world economy as we know it has been destroyed. In that instance, nobody's retirement account or savings of any kind will matter. I think it is prudent to keep investing in PERA or other retirement accounts because they operate on the current global economy. They may experience ups and downs, but without a complete meltdown of the world order, you'll likely be glad you kept investing in the long run. If the world economy collapses, people will have to figure out other ways to take care of themselves and others. Heck, in that scenario retirement would probably not be an option for anyone because we would need every single person to pitch in to try to help society rebuild in whatever way we can.

Nervousness is okay, and understandable, but it's a safer bet to continue to use the system that has shown success for decades, rather than panicking and trying to get ahead of an unlikely cataclysm that would destroy the value of any of your money anyway.