Any change in the employer contribution rate does not impact retiree benefits. As compared to last year, the employer contribution rate certified this year by the MOSERS Board of Trustees represents a higher contribution for one year of service for active members and one year of payment on the plan’s unfunded actuarial accrued liability.

 System funding comes from three sources:

• investment income,
• employer contributions, and
• employee contributions (from those first employed on or after January 1, 2011).
  

For more information on MOSERS’ Employer Contribution Rate,  please see the Employer Contribution Rate infographic or feel free to contact us if you have further questions. 

It depends on where you transfer to. 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, your retirement date would stay the same, as long as you don’t have a break in service. 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, then you still may be able to transfer service credit but you would need to ask that employer and/or retirement system to determine if your retirement eligibility date will change. For example, the Missouri Department of Transportation is covered under MPERS not MOSERS. If you went to work for a public school system, it may be covered by PSRS/PEERS. This is an important question to get answered before you make your decision to transfer or not. 

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.

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.

Contact the Missouri Department of Revenue to see if you qualify or ask your tax professional.

A vested member of MOSERS who later takes a job covered by PSRS/PEERS may elect to transfer their service. This transfer is not a day-for-day transfer. The transferring system sends the actuarial value of the member’s service to the other system, which then converts that value to service. Members may purchase any remaining service not covered by the transfer at full actuarial cost.

There are a variety of provisions that may allow employees to purchase or transfer service between MOSERS and another public retirement plan in Missouri. You are not required to purchase or transfer service if you move from one retirement system to another. You can potentially earn retirement benefits from more than one system.

Depending on your plan, see either the Purchasing and Transferring Service Credit brochure (MSEP & MSEP 2000) or the Purchasing and Transferring Service Credit brochure (MSEP 2011), or contact a MOSERS benefit counselor for more information about your individual situation. 

If you want to update your direct deposit information, just log in to myMOSERS. Once logged in, click Forms, then select Direct Deposit. From there you can begin to fill out and complete the Direct Deposit Authorization form online or you can mail it to MOSERS. Or feel free to come by and place it in our drop box out front at any time. 

No, you cannot increase your coverage after retirement. If you retire within 60 days of leaving employment, you can retain your coverage in retirement up to $60,000. However, you may retain all of your optional coverage until age 62 if you are a general state employee who retired under the “Rule of 80” (MSEP 2000) or the “Rule of 90” (MSEP 2011). At age 62, your coverage will automatically reduce to a maximum of $60,000.

To keep your optional coverage, you must submit the Retain/Change Optional Life Insurance form (available at myMOSERS. Use the same form to reduce or terminate your coverage at any time.

Please note that once you terminate coverage, it cannot be reinstated. You have 60 days from your retirement date to port or convert your remaining optional life insurance through The Standard.

Use the Optional Life Insurance Calculator to determine your monthly premium.

For more information please see our Life Insurance page.

We are unable to provide the 2022 COLA at this time, typically you can expect to see it by the end of January. For general state employees, COLAs are based on 80% of the percentage increase in the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) from one year to the next. The maximum increase is 5% (minimum 0%).

We calculate COLAs based on the CPI-U, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers. To learn more, review the Consumer Price Index Frequently Asked Questions on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.

See the History of COLAs and the COLA page on our website for more information.

There is an option to pre-pay health insurance premiums in retirement with a payout of unused annual leave. However, this is outside of the scope of benefits that MOSERS administers. You can find the following information on MCHCP’s website:

• “Employees whose premiums are collected pre-tax through the cafeteria plan have the opportunity to pre-pay premiums pre-tax as a retiree. Prepaid premiums may only be paid within the same calendar year*. To prepay, retirees must submit their enrollment request at least 31 days prior to their retirement date. The first month’s premium for retiree coverage will be divided between the last two active paychecks. Additional prepaid premiums may be collected from the retiree’s last two active paychecks and/or lump sum vacation/compensatory time payroll. Verify this payroll amount with the HR/Payroll personnel to determine how many months of retiree premiums can be prepaid.
• If a retiring employee transfers coverage under a retired spouse, the prepaid premium will include the premium for both the retiree and spouse. MCHCP suspends deductions from the spouse’s retirement benefit during the prepaid months.
• Retirees who cancel or fail to elect coverage may not enroll at a later date. Retirees who return to state employment and become eligible for benefits through MCHCP will be treated as a new employee.
•  
• *Employees with a retirement date of Dec. 1 cannot prepay premiums, since future premiums would be for a different plan year. Employees with a retirement date of Jan. 1 can only prepay premiums using funds from their final active payroll (usually Jan. 15) and/or their vacation and compensatory time payroll.”  Source: Enrollment (mchcp.org)

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

Please contact your HR office, MCHCP, and ASI Flex for details on the forms you need to complete and 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. 

To view your beneficiary designations, log in to myMOSERS. Click on Personal Information then Life Insurance. To update beneficiaries, complete and submit the  Designation of Life Insurance Beneficiaries form (“Life Ins Beneficiaries” from the Forms drop-down menu).

If you are an active member of MSEP 2011 or the Judicial Plan 2011, you should also complete and submit the Contribution Beneficiaries form for your employee contributions.

If you cannot log in to submit the forms online, contact a MOSERS benefit counselor to request paper forms, which we will mail to your home address.

If you participate in the state’s deferred compensation program, you may want to update your beneficiaries with MO Deferred Comp, as well.