I know it's 2 years later, but in case you're still wondering about PERA... the good news is that if you leave your government job, you can leave your PERA account where it is until you're 65 (or whatever the current state retirement age is now). Then when you retire, you are eligible to get back what you put, what the state put in, and any interest PLUS double the whole amount. In some cases that might not be enough to brag about, but in others, it's a nice windfall when you go to collect. Also, you can opt to take it as a lifetime benefit, instead of a rollover or distribution. The lifetime option is guaranteed monthly income with periodic cost of living raises for the rest of your life. There is a health insurance benefit option, too, which may be useful.