Once you meet both the age and service requirements for normal retirement, there is no tax penalty for collecting your monthly defined benefit pension payment from MOSERS prior to age 59 ½.

Given a retirement of age 55 or later and a rollover of a BackDROP payment to a qualified retirement account *(such as MO Deferred Comp), future withdrawals from that account prior to age 59 ½ would not be subject to a 10% early withdrawal penalty.

For further reference, please see the Special Tax Notice brochure for more details.

*Excludes Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA’s).

If you would like to change your email preferences and receive paper notifications, please log in to myMOSERS. After logging in, select Personal Information then Email Options. From there, you can uncheck the option to “Receive all notices electronically”. If you do so, we will mail hard copies of your member correspondence to you. We will still send some information, which is not available in hard copy, such as the quarterly Board meeting updates, via email. If you are unable to log in, please contact a MOSERS benefit counselor who will be happy to help you.

When you retire, you will get a monthly pension benefit for life. Your base benefit is calculated using a formula, as defined by law, that takes into account the following factors:

• Final Average Pay (FAP) – The average of your highest 36 consecutive months of pay

• Multiplier – The multiplier established by the legislature

• Credited Service – Your years and months of credited service earned, purchased, or transferred, and unused sick leave (if applicable)

(Base benefit is the amount before any reductions, taxes, or other deductions.)

 To answer your questions, specifically,

• Is it the top three in all years of service? Do they have to be in a row? Can they be spread out? It is your highest 36 consecutive months pay. We will look at your entire pay history and find the “high 36”.  All 36 months must be in a row.
• Does that include Backdrop time? No. If you elect BackDROP at retirement, any pay earned during the BackDROP period does not count in your “high 36”.
• What if your income for the years served are higher than the salary of a specified job? For example, if you made $70,000 but your max pay for that job is $49,000 what is your retirement based on? We look at your gross pay, as reported by your employer, which may include overtime pay and holiday pay. We do not look at your job title or pay ranges.

Here is an example of how the base benefit formula works for a person whose gross pay is $50,000 per year (for at least 36 months) and who retires under MSEP 2000 with 25 years of service:

 FAP ($4,167) x Multiplier (0.017) x Credited Service (25) = $1,770.98 monthly base benefit in retirement

Yes, there is an option to pre-pay health insurance premiums in retirement with a payout for unused annual leave. However, this is outside of the scope of benefits that MOSERS administers.

Please contact your HR office, MCHCP, and ASI Flex for details on the forms you will need to complete and the associated deadlines. Additionally, we encourage you to check with your human resources office about policies on annual and sick leave accrual and usage before retirement. 

Please note that the amount of your unused annual leave has no impact on your MOSERS retirement benefits.

No, they are not the same. A W-2 form comes from an employer, not from MOSERS. A W-2 shows income you’ve earned from your employer. A 1099-R shows distributions you have received from pensions and other retirement plans.

MOSERS provides you with a 1099-R tax form. 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.

We will mail your 1099-R form by 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 save or print.  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.

The COLA rate for 2022 is 3.758%.

According to Missouri state law, MOSERS calculates COLAS as follows:

Each January, we must compare the average Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the calendar year just completed (2021) to the average CPI from the prior year (2020) to determine the percentage change between the two years. For general state employees, COLAs are based on 80% of the percentage increase in the average (CPI) from one year to the next. The maximum increase is 5% (minimum 0%).

The 2022 COLA rate of 3.758% applies to: 

• All retired members of MSEP 2000 and MSEP 2011
• MSEP retirees who have reached their 65% COLA cap
• MSEP retirees first employed on or after August 28, 1997

If you were employed before August 28, 1997, and retired under MSEP, you will get a COLA of at least 4% each year (maximum 5%) until you reach your COLA cap. You reach the COLA cap when the sum of your COLAs equals 65% of your initial base benefit amount. After reaching your COLA cap, your annual COLA will be equal to 80% of the percentage increase in the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) from one year to the next, which, as noted above, is 3.758 for 2022.

The purpose of a COLA for any type of pay or retirement benefit is to help you cope with inflation. COLAs help you maintain your purchasing power as inflation increases the cost of various items you buy. See the article, The 2022 COLA is Here, and the COLA page on our website for more information. 

There must be one entire month between the date we receive your application and your retirement date. For example, if your retirement date is March 1, your Retirement Application is due no later than January 31 and your Retirement Election Form is due no later than February 28. You can submit your retirement application as early as 4 months (120 days) prior to your retirement date.

Visit our Ready to Retire page to view the table showing all due dates. You can also find the due dates on p. 6 of the Retirement Guide along with step-by-step instructions for the retirement process. We also encourage you to participate in a Ready to Retire Webinar or Seminar. 

We will mail your MOSERS 1099-R tax form to you by the end of January. After we have mailed it, your MOSERS 1099-R will also be available for you to view and print or save from your Document Express online mailbox after you log in to myMOSERS. This form lists your 2021 pension 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. For more information, please see our latest news item regarding 1099-Rs.

Your 1099-R tax form from the MO Deferred Comp Plan will be available in your online account by the fourth week of January 2022. The plan will also mail you a copy no later than January 31, 2022.

A member of MSEP 2011, who leaves state employment after January 1, 2018 but prior to being eligible for early or normal retirement, will get no service credit for unused sick leave. However, a member of MSEP 2011 who remains employed until they reach early or normal retirement eligibility will receive one month of credited service for every 168 hours of unused sick leave.

Unused sick leave cannot be used to determine retirement eligibility – it will not allow you to retire sooner – but it converts to credited service, which can increase your monthly pension benefit. 

Yes, pension benefit payments to your ex-spouse will commence when you begin receiving benefits from MOSERS in accordance with applicable statutes and the Division of Benefits Order(DBO) we have on file for you. Re-marriage of your ex-spouse does not affect their eligibility to receive their portion of your benefit. Upon either your death or the death of your ex-spouse, the DBO will automatically terminate.

See the Divorce and Your Pension Benefit brochure for more information.