Who else is in PERS?

[Stachetastic]

My husband and I have worked in PERS positions for our entire careers. We have not seriously discussed FIRE, but we have always been fairly frugal, and enjoy living well below our means. It seems like whenever I mention retirement to my friends/coworkers in the system, they all immediately inform me it's not possible. And it's not even me talking about retiring early--just when I've got my 30 years in at age 52. I've been told "You can't retire before 59, 65, 67, you-name-it."  While I know this isn't true, my question is: What does putting in 30 full years, plus meeting whatever arbitrary age they dictate really get me? Health care benefits? Higher monthly payout? I've been all over the PERS website, but it seems ambiguous, or only speaking to those ready to retire now. I fully expect the system to change many times over in the next decade or so. For example, when I first started in the system, I was told once I met 10 years of service, all health insurance costs were covered, regardless of when I retired. That has since changed, of course. So what IS the benefit to putting all that time in? Is everyone around me just brainwashed?

[RFAAOATB]

is PERS different on a state by state basis?  You know your numbers better than most other people.  I'm in a Defined Contribution PERS plan instead of the older Defined Benefit plan.  I just make sure I'm in the right funds and watch the numbers go up every week.

[Stachetastic]

is PERS different on a state by state basis?  You know your numbers better than most other people.  I'm in a Defined Contribution PERS plan instead of the older Defined Benefit plan.  I just make sure I'm in the right funds and watch the numbers go up every week.

Good question. I have no idea how they may differ between states. I don't even know what funds I'm in. Just starting to do some research, although in my defense, I've kept much better tabs on my deferred comp accounts. So I'm not completely out to lunch on this stuff.

[Stachetastic]

is PERS different on a state by state basis?  You know your numbers better than most other people.  I'm in a Defined Contribution PERS plan instead of the older Defined Benefit plan.  I just make sure I'm in the right funds and watch the numbers go up every week.

Good question. I have no idea how they may differ between states. I don't even know what funds I'm in. Just starting to do some research, although in my defense, I've kept much better tabs on my deferred comp accounts. So I'm not completely out to lunch on this stuff.

You can't manage a PER account as it is a mandatory Defined Benefits Plan and you have no say so how it's managed. You'll just get a pre-determined amount at retirement based on your age, years on the job and pay. Your PERS website should have calculators to play with.

This is what I always thought, so I never investigated further. Glad to hear I wasn't completely off base.

[gillstone]

PERS will vary by state and to a certain degree the department in your state.  For instance in Montana the PERS for Highway Patrol has a different fund structure and setup than one for teachers which is also different from the one for regular state employees.

Contact your particular state's PERS office for plan details and a walkthrough of how retirement would work and when you could do it.  They should be ale to provide you with all the information.

Also as a member of a PERS you may have access to use a 457 Deferred Compensation account which allows you to stash away an additional 17k a year pre-tax.  You choose where it is invested from a menu of options they provide and you can access it once you no longer work for the state regardless of your age (all broadly speaking of course). If you can get a 457 lock that sucker in because it is a great complement to a pension and a perfect tool to reach FIRE.

[Exflyboy]

My Wife works in PERS (Oregon).

She will quit next year at the age of 51, but not draw her benefits until 58 most likely.

[Stachetastic]

PERS will vary by state and to a certain degree the department in your state.  For instance in Montana the PERS for Highway Patrol has a different fund structure and setup than one for teachers which is also different from the one for regular state employees.

Contact your particular state's PERS office for plan details and a walkthrough of how retirement would work and when you could do it.  They should be ale to provide you with all the information.

Also as a member of a PERS you may have access to use a 457 Deferred Compensation account which allows you to stash away an additional 17k a year pre-tax.  You choose where it is invested from a menu of options they provide and you can access it once you no longer work for the state regardless of your age (all broadly speaking of course). If you can get a 457 lock that sucker in because it is a great complement to a pension and a perfect tool to reach FIRE.

We do have Deferred Comp plans, and I am ramping mine up quite a bit, though far from maxing it out so far. My husband is currently laid off, so he is not contributing at this time (also the reason I'm not maxing out...since I'm the only income at the moment.) We are hoping he can find another position within the PERS system and resume contributions, but no such luck yet.

[Cassie]

In Nevada with 30 years of service you can retire at any age with a full pension. The cost of health insurance depends on the # of years here. I think people with 30 years are paying about $150.00/month for HMO. Not sure ow much but it is less if they choose the PCP. 

[arebelspy]

I'm in NVPERs.  I expect to get a little in 30 years after inflation has eaten most of it.  I don't expect to get any healthcare benefits from it - that's much more restrictive.

[zataks]

CalPERS member here, 2% @62 years old.

That means I get 2% of the average of my top 3 consecutive highest paying years multiplied by my years of service.

For example:
$100,000 x 2% x 15 years = $50,000/year in retirement pay. 

But that 2% is a service factor that changes based on when I retire.  It goes from 1% at 52 to 2.5% at 67.  I started the PERS job when I was 27 so if I worked until 67, I could get 100% of my pay.
For example: $100,000 x 2.5% x 40years = $100,000

But I don't plan on doing that.  If I put in 15 years, the company will cost share my health care once I retire (that is, start drawing retirement, not ER!) or at years of service they'll provide cost sharing for my spouse too.  So goal is 15 years here.  Maybe 20.  More than ample time to save the money required to ER.  And 27 + 15 or 20 is only 42 or 47.  So not bad retirement.
Only caveat to that is once I'm of age, I'm required to take Medicare but the company still provides cost sharing of the premium (80% I believe.)

Used to be a NV PERS member.  I have 4.9124 years in there.  The PERS account doesn't vest until you have at least 5 years in.  But I still have a house in NV so maybe I'll go back and put in enough time somewhere to hit my 5 years.  =)

[MarciaB]

I think part of the confusion (I'm a PERS covered employee here in Oregon so this is on my radar) is the language. The word "retirement" often means the date at which you start drawing the monthly benefits. But the day you stop working in your state job is often called the "termination date." And those can be back to back days, or separated by years.

But what I'm finding is that there's also this assumption built into the benefits estimators and their language that you are going to terminate the day before you retire...assuming that you won't be financially able to stop working until you are eligible to draw those benefits.

[zataks]

I think part of the confusion (I'm a PERS covered employee here in Oregon so this is on my radar) is the language. The word "retirement" often means the date at which you start drawing the monthly benefits. But the day you stop working in your state job is often called the "termination date." And those can be back to back days, or separated by years.

But what I'm finding is that there's also this assumption built into the benefits estimators and their language that you are going to terminate the day before you retire...assuming that you won't be financially able to stop working until you are eligible to draw those benefits.

I had trouble with this myself.  Because I kept thinking, "sweet they'll be cost sharing my medical coverage when I'm in my forties and I'll draw my pension in my 60's and be lovin' life the whole time." 
But that is not the case.

I plan on terminating employment at 15-20 years of service but not drawing my retirement pension/benefits until 10-25 years after my termination date.

[mustachianteacher]

I'm in STRS, a different defined benefit pension, but I'm very familiar with the people who adamantly claim you "can't" retire at whatever age you happen to mention. The way those folks view the system is that it is meant to replace as much as possible of their current salary. They usually have no savings of their own, and they usually spend most of their take-home pay, so the way they see it, you absolutely can't retire before you've maxed out your benefit and reached that magical combination of age and service years that gets them the maximum payout. After all, if you won't be receiving 80% of your pre-retirement salary, how will you survive?!?!

[Exhale]

Exflyboy clued me into how helpful PERS can be (as he mentioned earlier, his wife has PERS). I'm a member of PERS2 (WA state) and plan to wait until 65 to withdraw so there's no early retirement penalty (age 57 is the earliest one can take payments).

For PERS2:
- Whenever you stop work in the system is when the calculator stops
- Example: Whenever it is you stop, that's where the "service credit years" stop

Calculating Retirement Benefits:
- Monthly retirement income = 2% x service credit years x average monthly compensation
- Example: Suppose you stop work with 32 years of service credit and a monthly average final compensation of $2,000. Your retirement benefit would be $1,280 each month, calculated as follows: 2% x 32 x $2,000 = $1,280
- Average final compensation = average of the highest salary for three years in all the years you worked in the system (helpful for those of us who might want to go down to PT before stopping altogether)
- This calculation results in the standard single life benefit (different if you continue benefits to a survivor)

Other info:
- Annual cost-of-living adjustments of up to 3%.
- Temporary duty disability, disability retirement and survivor benefits are available if you meet the requirements.

[Serve&Volley88]

I'm in the New York PERS. I can retire at 55 but would incur a 38% penalty on my annual pension benefit. 62 is the no-penalty age. My long-term plan is to put enough into my 457 and other investments to allow me to live off of that income starting around age 45-50. I wouldn't file for the pension until I hit age 62.

The only downside is I wouldn't get healthcare if I left state employment that early. But I try not to worry about that as who knows what the health care market will look like in 25 years. We could have socialized medicine by then (not necessarily a good thing).

[Cassie]

The teachers have it different then state workers in NV. In fact, I remember when a bunch of teachers here retired earlier then they wanted due to changes that would be made in the cost of their health care.  State employees that were hired before 2012 (I think-can't remember exact date) get health insurance upon retiring. For workers with 30 years of service you get 75% of your highest 3 years. The people that started young, do their 30 years, retire young really have it made. Unfortunately my hubby & I started much older so only put in 15 years for me & 11 for him. However, our pensions are the same amount because he made more $ then me.  Also because of the SS Windfall Provision a lot of SS is lost due to NV not paying into the system.

[arebelspy]

The teachers have it different then state workers in NV. In fact, I remember when a bunch of teachers here retired earlier then they wanted due to changes that would be made in the cost of their health care.  State employees that were hired before 2012 (I think-can't remember exact date) get health insurance upon retiring. For workers with 30 years of service you get 75% of your highest 3 years. The people that started young, do their 30 years, retire young really have it made. Unfortunately my hubby & I started much older so only put in 15 years for me & 11 for him. However, our pensions are the same amount because he made more $ then me.  Also because of the SS Windfall Provision a lot of SS is lost due to NV not paying into the system.

The wife and I (NV teachers) don't get health care when we FIRE - you have to be a certain age and have worked long enough.  I'll qualify for a pension, but not reasonable health care.  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  :)

[Cassie]

I retired from NV as a state worker & I think you are right which is why as I said teachers retired early-I think it was to get the health care. Although it is really expensive. We pay $10,000/year for 2 people.  We will probably both keep p.t. consulting until we reach medicare age because we enjoy it. Even with the supplement we should pay a lot less.

[Stachetastic]

Thank you all for your responses. It's amazing how much differs between states. I do know that here in Ohio, they take the most recent highest paid years (either 3 or 5, depending on what, when, etc...) in calculations, which would definitely affect us if we were to go part time. I'm considering part time work while the kids are still young, and I see that as long at I earn $600 per month, it still counts as full time as far as PERS credits.