Your MOSERS benefit is subject to normal federal taxes. It is also subject to normal Missouri state income taxes if you are a resident of Missouri. However, if you are a Missouri resident, you may qualify for the Public Pension Exemption.

Visit the Missouri Department of Revenue's Public Pension Exemption page or read our Missouri Public Pension Exemption flyer for more information.

IRS Tax Penalties: Taking your MOSERS defined benefit (DB) pension at age 57 does not subject it to IRS tax penalties. However, taxes and/or penalties related to other distributions include:

• There may be a 10% IRS tax penalty if you are younger than age 59 ½ at the time of payment, elect BackDROP*, and take a lump-sum cash payment. If you terminate employment in or after the year you reach age 55, this penalty will not apply. Additionally, MOSERS is required to withhold 20% of a BackDROP cash payment for federal taxes. More details are available in the Special Tax Notice brochure on our website. In such a situation, you can avoid the IRS tax penalty by rolling over the BackDROP payment to a qualified retirement account such as with MO Deferred Comp and not withdrawing it until you meet all IRS regulations (generally speaking, that is after you attain age 59 1/2 but there are exceptions, see page 4 of the Special Tax Notice brochure (BackDROP and Refunds), including one for public safety employees).
• If you have made pre-tax contributions to the MO Deferred Comp plan (an internal revenue code section 457(b) plan), distributions from that plan following retirement or termination of service at any age are subject to ordinary income tax only.
• Employer “match” contributions made on behalf of an employee to a 401(a) plan are subject to an additional 10% penalty if withdrawn prior to age 59 1/2.

Be sure to check with your financial institution or a tax advisor for information about your tax liability when you begin withdrawing your funds.

*BackDROP is available only to general state employees who are members of MSEP & MSEP 2000 and who work at least two years beyond normal retirement eligibility.

The maximum cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for MOSERS retirees and beneficiaries is 5%. If the percentage change in the CPI from one year to the next were 5%, the COLA would be 4% (80% of 5%). If the percentage change in the CPI from one year to the next were 6.2%, the COLA would be 4.96% (80% of 6.2%). If the percentage change in the CPI from one year to the next were 10%, the COLA would be 5% (80% of 10% is 8% but the maximum COLA is 5%).

The COLA that our retirees or their beneficiaries will receive this year is 3.758%. 

As an actively employed MOSERS member, you receive basic life insurance equal to one times your annual salary at no cost to you. Your employer pays the premium. The only time your basic life insurance coverage increases is if your salary increases. However, as an active member, you may be able to purchase additional optional life insurance coverage for yourself and your dependents.

To do so, complete and submit the Enrollment/Change-Optional Life Insurance form at myMOSERS and also the Standard Medical History Statement.

MOSERS offers an Annual Life Insurance Review Period every October for member coverage. The review period gives eligible members the chance to increase their own optional coverage in increments of $10,000 without completing additional medical history forms. We will notify you each September if you are eligible. A family status change, such as marriage, also allows you to apply to increase your coverage within 31 days of an eligible life event without proving insurability. You may be eligible to purchase optional life insurance any other time during the year, but you will need to submit evidence of insurability.

HB 2234 does not change the current statutory rules for converting sick leave to service credit or BackDROP.

You will get one month of credited service for each block of 168 hours of unused sick leave you have at retirement. While this will increase the amount of your benefit, unused sick leave cannot count toward eligibility for retirement or as part of the BackDROP period. That is, the months of unused sick leave will not make you eligible for retirement (or BackDROP) sooner, but will increase the amount of your payment once you have retired.

Your W-2 form comes from your employer, not from MOSERS. You will need to reach out to your employer for your W-2.

MOSERS provides retirees and benefit recipients with a 1099-R tax form. We mailed 1099-R forms at the end of January. You can also access it online by logging into myMOSERS. You will find it under Personal Information and available for you to print. This form lists your 2021 retirement benefit income from MOSERS. You will need this form to file your income tax return. If you receive more than one benefit from MOSERS, you may receive more than one 1099-R from us. If you are unable to log in to myMOSERS, call us at (800) 827-1063 or (573) 632-6100 and we can mail you a replacement. For security reasons, we cannot email it to you.

Since a MOSERS pension is from Social Security covered employment in which you paid Social Security payroll taxes, it has no effect on your Social Security benefit. Additionally, your MOSERS benefit is a pension and, therefore, it does not count as salary or wages towards the annual earnings limit for Social Security.

We also suggest you speak to a tax professional or financial advisor for advice specific to your situation. 

Thank you for your email. While we mention the member’s responsibility for state taxes on BackDROP cash payments in the Ready to Retire seminar (and reference book) and on the BackDROP Distribution form, we appreciate your feedback and will try and highlight this point in the future. 

Unused sick leave does NOT count towards service for retirement ELIGIBILITY. In other words, it will not make you eligible for retirement sooner than you would have been without it. You must meet both the age and service requirements – not counting unused sick leave – to be eligible to retire.

However, as part of your retirement benefit calculation, we will add one month of additional service for each block of 168 hours of unused sick leave you have at retirement. This will increase the AMOUNT of your benefit payment every month in retirement. 

There are some specific situations in which unused sick leave doesn’t count:

• MSEP 2011 members: If you left state employment after January 1, 2018, and prior to being eligible for early or normal retirement, you will get no service credit for unused sick leave.
• MSEP retirees: If you leave state employment prior to being eligible for early or normal retirement, you will get no service credit for your unused sick leave.
• Legislators, statewide elected officials, and judges: You do not accrue sick leave.

It depends on where you transfer to. MOSERS defined benefit pension plan covers most, but not all, state agencies. If you are transferring from a benefit-eligible position with one MOSERS-covered employer to a benefit-eligible position with another MOSERS-covered employer, then yes, you can continue to find the information you need on our website and your personal information by logging in to myMOSERS. This is a nice advantage of working for the state since it gives you so many options.

If you move to an employer not covered by MOSERS, you should contact that retirement system. For example, employees of the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Missouri Highway Patrol are covered by the MODot and Patrol Employees’ Retirement System (MPERS).

If you are referring to your MO Deferred Comp contributions, when transferring to another state agency, your contribution to your deferred compensation account will not be interrupted. However, we recommend that you confirm with your human resources or payroll representative to ensure that all deductions are accurate. To view your deferred comp account for balance and contribution activity, you can either access through the ESS portal or by logging in at www.modeferredcomp.org.  

To establish your eligibility for retirement, you must submit an acceptable proof-of-age and lawful presence document with your retirement application. You can submit one of the following documents:

• U.S. Birth Certificate (certified with embossed or raised seal issued by state or local government)

OR a photocopy of one of the following:

• Valid Missouri Driver’s License or Missouri Nondriver ID

• U.S. Passport (current or expired)

• U.S. Certificate of Citizenship

• U.S. Certificate of Naturalization

• U.S. Certificate of Birth Abroad

You can mail in or drop off your birth certificate and we will return it.

To upload any of the other documents, log in to myMOSERS. Once you are logged in, click Online Documents and then Document Upload.

Once you upload a document, our staff must process it. Please allow 1-2 business days for it to show as complete in our system.