MOSERS Month is officially here!

Encourage your employees to follow along with our weekly emails and choose their own fairy tale adventure while watching the fun-filled videos about their MOSERS benefits.

Did you receive your very own MOSERS Month poster to display around the office? If not, you can download one now!

University Employers – Recording Available

Follow the link below to view the recording of the University Employers webinar held on March 24, 2022. To register to watch the recording, enter your name and email address. To move through the recording, use the progress bar at the bottom:

University Employers - RECORDING

00 – 04 min: Introduction, Resources

04 – 31 min: Colleges and Universities Retirement Plan (CURP)

31 – 37 min: Part-Time Employees

37 – 44 min: Termination and Reemployment Rules

44 – 49 min: Retirement Eligible Pay

49 – 60 min: MO Deferred Comp

Download webinar handouts.

Content was presented by Lisa Campbell, Educator; Jamie Mullen, Employer Services Manager; Shelley Lehmann, Employer Services Analyst; and Brooke Rowden, Defined Contribution Plans Education Coordinator

This month, active employees who are within one year of normal retirement eligibility or already eligible to retire will receive a letter reminding them of the termination and reemployment rules. Additionally, we have programmed for an automatic reminder letter to be sent to active employees when they reach the following milestones: one year before early retirement eligibility, two years before normal retirement eligibility, and one year before normal retirement eligibility.

We hope these reminder letters will assist your employees in complying with the termination and reemployment rules, which state that before receiving a benefit payment from MOSERS, IRS rules require a “bona fide termination” of a member’s employment. For purposes of MOSERS Board Rules, a "bona fide termination" occurs when:

• They have completely severed employment;
• They have not entered into a prearranged agreement (written or oral), prior to retirement, with the State of Missouri or any MOSERS-covered employer for subsequent employment on any basis (full-time, part-time, or other); and
• They are not subsequently employed with the State of Missouri or any MOSERS-covered employer on any basis (full-time, part-time, or other) within 30 days after their employment with their prior employer has ended.

For more information, please see our FAQs on Termination and Reemployment Rules and our Termination and Reemployment Rules flyer

Please note that if they do not have a bona fide separation of service, their retirement will be null and void, meaning they will not receive their pension payments.

We need your help with  LTD submissions!

Please remember to submit the simplified and updated Long Term Disability Employer Statement to ltdmosers@standard.com when you know your employee is applying for long-term disability (LTD) benefits.

Please advise your employee to provide their HR representative's contact information to The Standard when they call (844) 505-6026, to initiate their LTD claim.

On occasion, the employee neglects to provide the employer contact information to The Standard. This causes a delay in the review of the claim. To assist with this process, MOSERS is collecting the contact information for the individual(s) responsible for completing the Employer Statement at each covered employer. As such, please email the name, phone number, and email address of the person best suited to complete the Employer Statement at your agency to employers@mosers.org. Please also include the contact person's department, agency, and organization number.

For more information on the LTD application process, please watch the LTD webinar put together by The Standard to illustrate the most effective way to file for LTD benefits.

Remind employees that the nomination period for candidates interested in running for the MOSERS Board of Trustees is now open! Voting will take place in August this year. Two active members, and one retired member, will be elected. They will begin serving a four-year term in January 2023.

The Nomination Process for Active Members

• Declaration: To declare your interest in being a Board candidate, you must first fill out the  Nominating Petition Part I paper form in the Active Member Board Seat booklet. By providing the required personal information, you are expressing your interest in being a member of the MOSERS Board.
• Signatures: You are required to obtain the signatures of at least 100 active or inactive vested MOSERS members. You can submit signatures through the online signature platform or the Nominating Petition Part II paper form in the Active Member Board Seat booklet, which is available to print and send back with signatures to MOSERS by June 15, 2022.
• Background and Qualifications: The Nominating Petition Part I requests biographical information, including your qualifications for a position on the Board of Trustees. It must not exceed 300 words and should include information you believe to be relevant to your candidacy for election.
• All nominations are due to MOSERS by June 15, 2022

Accessing Your Annual Benefit Statement – March 2022

Board of Trustees – Roles and Responsibilities – March 2022

MOSERS Board Member Candidate Information – Active Member Board Seat – March 2022

Divorce and Your Pension Benefit brochure – March 2022

Total Compensation Calculator – January 2022

Destination Retirement Checklist (University Employees) – January 2022

Destination Retirement Checklist – January 2022

For more information, please visit MOSERS' Online Library: https://www.mosers.org/library

Phoenix Sneak Peek - New Hires

April is MOSERS Month!

Board Election Nominations Now Open

Proper LTD Submissions

Recently Updated Resources

When hiring a new employee, your first step with MOSERS, though indirectly, is determining the benefit eligibility of the position. An employee hired into a benefit-eligible position is entitled to service and salary accruals towards the calculation of their future pension and, depending on the agency, may also be eligible for life and long-term disability insurance through MOSERS. Therefore your entry of a new benefit-eligible employee into SEBES establishes the employee’s official record under MOSERS.

The implementation of Phoenix will not change the new hire process as it relates to MOSERS. Phoenix will consume data from SEBES just as our current system does, and benefit-eligible employees entered into SEBES will automatically be recorded under MOSERS. However, a unique feature of Phoenix called the SAM II Daily Feed will improve the accuracy of service, salary, and contribution data of employees paid through the SAM II system by double-checking the benefit-eligibility status of employees.

If you are a SAM II employer representative, please take a moment to view this short demo of the SAM II Daily Feed in Phoenix.

The wait is almost over! We are excited to launch the second annual MOSERS Month in April. Our team has been working hard to create engaging emails and activities for employees to help them learn more about their benefits. It will be a month filled with lots of retirement information and fairytale-themed adventures! Take a moment to look at our MOSERS Month Employer Checklist and encourage your employees to participate.

Did you receive your very own MOSERS Month poster to display around the office? If not, you can download one now!

Remind employees that the nomination period for candidates interested in running for the MOSERS Board of Trustees is now open! Voting will take place in August this year. Two active members, and one retired member, will be elected. They will begin serving a four-year term in January 2023.

The Nomination Process for Active Members

• Declaration: To declare your interest in being a Board candidate, you must first fill out the Nominating Petition Part I paper form in the Active Member Board Seat booklet. By providing the required personal information, you are expressing your interest in being a member of the MOSERS Board.
• Signatures: You are required to obtain the signatures of at least 100 active or inactive vested MOSERS members. You can submit signatures through the online signature platform or the Nominating Petition Part II paper form in the Active Member Board Seat booklet, which is available to print and send back with signatures to MOSERS by June 15, 2022.
• Background and Qualifications: The Nominating Petition Part I requests biographical information, including your qualifications for a position on the Board of Trustees. It must not exceed 300 words and should include information you believe to be relevant to your candidacy for election.
• All nominations are due to MOSERS by June 15, 2022

Don’t be the reason your disabled employee is not approved for LTD.

Please remember to submit the simplified and updated Long Term Disability Employer Statement to ltdmosers@standard.com when you know your employee is applying for long-term disability (LTD) benefits.

Please advise your employee to provide their HR representative's contact information to The Standard when they call in (844-505-6026) to initiate their LTD claim.

On occasion, the employee neglects to provide the employer contact information to The Standard. This causes a delay in the review of the claim. To assist with this process, MOSERS is collecting the contact information for the individual(s) responsible for completing the Employer Statement at each covered employer. As such, please email the name, phone number, and email address of the person best suited to complete the Employer Statement at your agency to employers@mosers.org. Please also include the contact person's department, agency, and organization number.

For more information on the LTD application process, please watch the  LTD webinar put together by The Standard to illustrate the most effective way to file for LTD benefits.

Board of Trustees – Roles and Responsibilities – March 2022

MOSERS Board Member Candidate Information – Active Member Board Seat – March 2022

Divorce and Your Pension Benefit brochure – March 2022

Total Compensation Calendar - January 2022

Destination Retirement Checklist (University Employees) – January 2022

Destination Retirement Checklist – January 2022

Life Services Toolkit Flyer – December 2021

MOSERS Organization Chart – December 2021

Pension Payment & Holiday Schedule - December 2021

Tax-Free Rollover to MOSERS (Purchasing Service) – December 2021

For more information, please visit MOSERS' Online Library: https://www.mosers.org/library

Phoenix Sneak Peek

Submit Terminations ASAP

MOSERS Month Coming in April! 

From the Education Desk…

Word on the Street – State Taxes

As you may know, we are currently building a new pension administration system called Phoenix that is on track for completion in early 2023.

Phoenix is analogous to the central nervous system of MOSERS – it contains all of the demographic, service and salary, and contribution data needed to administer benefits for all MOSERS members.

In the year leading up to the new pension administration system (PAS) launch, we have created a Phoenix webpage specifically for you, that will serve as your go-to place for both background information and ongoing updates about Phoenix from now on. Check it out today! 

We appreciate all the work that you do for your employees and know that your time is valuable! We want to remind you how important it is to submit termination dates on time. We need accurate and timely submissions to pay refunds of contributions to members. Additionally, we are unable to properly calculate a member’s Final Average Pay (FAP) without an accurate termination date. If submissions are not made on time, it can delay the retirement process for your employees and will create errors on your error reports. Thank you for your continued support in making these processes smooth and efficient for you and your employees.

Last year, we hosted our first annual MOSERS Month. We are excited to introduce the theme for this year in the coming months. If you would like to be included in the sneak peek and receive a fun MOSERS Month package from us, please email nicoled@mosers.org.  

2022 Education Registration is Open!

We encourage you to remind your employees that we have redesigned our educational programs to help them learn information about their benefits as they progress through their career and experience different life events along the way. 

Newer Employees & MOSERS Webinars – Start learning about the state benefits administered by MOSERS.

• For employees who are newer to the state with at least six months but less than five years of service (not yet vested)
• Speakers include MOSERS and MO Deferred Comp
• Daytime and evening sessions available
• Sessions last approximately 90 minutes
• Register via GoTo Webinar for a daytime session or evening session.

Mid-Career Webinar – Learn how different career and life events may affect your pension benefit.

• For employees with at least five years of service (vested) and ten or more years until retirement eligibility
• Speakers include MOSERS and MO Deferred Comp
• Daytime and evening sessions available
• Sessions last approximately 2 hours
• Register by following step-by-step instructions for enrolling in a webinar via myMOSERS and GoTo Webinar.

Ready to Retire Sessions – Learn about the retirement process and how different decisions may impact your pension benefit.

• For employees within five years of retirement eligibility
• Speakers include MOSERS, MO Deferred Comp, MCHCP, and Social Security
• Daytime and evening sessions available
• Sessions are full-day or part-day or evening depending on the audience

Download and share our Education Poster with your employees and hang it in your common areas. If possible, we encourage you to allow eLearning credit for your employees attending one of these sessions.

Stay up to date and visit www.mosers.org/education frequently for more information, including schedules and how to register. 

True or False – When you retire, your MOSERS pension benefits may be exempt from state taxes? 

True! The total public pension exemption is limited to the maximum Social Security benefit of each spouse. In order to be eligible for the full deduction, your Missouri adjusted gross income must fall within certain income limitations. If your income exceeds the limitation, you may qualify for a partial exemption.

• Up to $85,000 - Single, Head of Household, or Qualifying Widow(er)
• Up to $100,000 - Married, filing jointly
• Up to $85 - Married, filing separately

For more information about taxes, please contact the Missouri Department of Revenue or go to: www.dor.mo.gov/personal/ptc/pension.php.

Total Compensation Calendar - January 2022

Destination Retirement Checklist (University Employees) – January 2022

Destination Retirement Checklist – January 2022

Life Services Toolkit Flyer – December 2021

MOSERS Organization Chart – December 2021

Pension Payment & Holiday Schedule - December 2021

Tax-Free Rollover to MOSERS (Purchasing Service) – December 2021

Long-Term Disability Handbook – November 2021

Retirement Guide – November 2021

Smart Start Checklist – November 2021

For more information, please visit MOSERS' Online Library: https://www.mosers.org/library

The next Employer Training Webinar, for UNIVERSITY HR representatives only has been rescheduled to Thursday, March 24, 2022, from 10 to 11:15 a.m. If you are a university HR representative, keep an eye out later this month for your email invite with the link to register. Topics will include CURP vs. MOSERS eligibility, transferring employees from CURP to MOSERS, employees working in multiple positions, termination and reemployment rules, and retirement-eligible pay. MO Deferred Comp will be providing a brief overview of the plan, highlighting ongoing issues within EZ Link, and discussing upcoming plan changes.