No. Currently, members of MSEP 2011 and the Judicial Plan 2011 contribute 4% of their pay toward their future retirement benefit. We are not aware of any proposed legislation to require other state employees (members of MSEP and MSEP 2000) to contribute. See our Legislation page for more information and to follow any bills affecting MOSERS. 

We encourage you to review our Divorce and Your Pension Benefits Brochure, in addition to visiting our Life Events web page for more information.

Please note that to update your beneficiary designations if you get divorced, log in to  myMOSERS:

• Complete and submit the Designation/Change of Beneficiaries form for basic and optional life insurance.
• If you are a member of the MSEP 2011 or the Judicial Plan 2011, complete and submit the Contribution Beneficiaries form for your employee contributions.

If you get divorced, you may be eligible to increase your optional life insurance without proving insurability. Log in to myMOSERS; to complete and submit the Enrollment/Change Optional Life Insurance form.

Please don’t hesitate to contact a MOSERS benefit counselor who can assist you with any further questions.

Any retirement incentive, such as paying retiree medical insurance or changing retirement eligibility rules, would require legislative authorization. There were no retirement incentives that passed during the recent legislative session, which ended May 15. Any time the Missouri General Assembly is in session, you can follow any bills affecting MOSERS on our Legislation page.

If the Governor were to call a special session of the General Assembly, we will post that information on our website. Otherwise, the General Assembly will meet again in January 2021. 

Under the MSEP 2000, you would not be eligible for early retirement and to receive benefits until at least the age of 57.

Minimum Requirements for Early Retirement by Plan:

MSEP:

Age 55 with 10 years of service

MSEP 2000:

Age 57 with 5 years of service

MSEP 2011:

Age 62 with 5 years of service

If you elect early retirement, your base benefit will be reduced by one-half of one percent (.005) for each month your age at retirement is younger than your normal retirement age. The formula for calculating the early retirement reduction factor is:  1 – (Months Retiring Early x .005) = Early Retirement Factor.

View Pension Plans on our website for more information including details on normal (unreduced) retirement eligibility for MSEP, MSEP 2000, and MSEP 2011. 

The budget restriction has no impact on MOSERS or on member benefits. We were able to reduce employer premiums for the long-term disability program administered by MOSERS, which resulted in a savings of $754,952 for the state.

The Missouri legislature has historically appropriated the full amount needed from MOSERS-covered employers for pension benefits. Each year, the MOSERS Board certifies this employer contribution rate. Our external actuary calculates the rate based on various economic and demographic assumptions. All the calculations go into our annual actuarial valuation. The actuary also conducts an experience study at least once every five years, which compares current assumptions with the most recent actual data. You can read our Employer Contribution Rate infographic for more information.

The amount of vacation/annual leave that you can get paid for is determined by your agency, not by MOSERS. Limits on how much they will pay out may vary from one agency to another. The amount of your unused annual leave has no impact on your MOSERS retirement benefits.

Your monthly retirement benefit from MOSERS will be based on your final average pay and your credited service (this can include unused sick leave). MOSERS converts each block of 168 hours of unused sick leave into one month of service credit to be used in your retirement benefit calculation. So, any usage of sick leave near your retirement date may affect previous benefit estimates you have received.

We encourage you to check with your agency’s human resources office about your specific agency’s guidelines for annual and sick leave accrual and usage before retirement.

Thank you for your question. You are not able to access your MOSERS defined benefit pension until retirement. However, if you no longer work in a MOSERS benefit-eligible position, and you are a member of MSEP 2011, you may be eligible to request a refund of your employee contributions. By taking a refund, you will lose all your credited service and future rights to receive pension and LTD benefits from MOSERS.

The MO Deferred Comp 457 retirement savings plan permits in-service withdrawals from your account under the following circumstances; you experience a qualifying, unforeseeable emergency that causes extreme financial hardship, or if your account balance is $5,000 or less – you may elect a one-time, in-service distribution provided you have not made a contribution during the prior two-year period. Please visit www.modeferredcomp.org for more information or if you have any questions please call 800-392-0925. 

The impact of a salary reduction or furlough/layoff without pay on retirement benefits depends on the employee’s individual pay history and their service credit relative to retirement eligibility. FAP refers to final average pay and it is one part of the 3-part formula used in calculating retirement benefits:

FAP x Multiplier x Credited Service = Monthly pension benefit payment. 

FAP is calculated from the employee’s highest 36-consecutive months of pay, not necessarily their last 36 months of pay. See some FAP calculation examples that illustrate the impact of a salary reduction or a furlough/layoff without pay on FAP and monthly pension benefits. A furlough/layoff without pay may also delay eligibility for retirement since the employee would not be earning service credit.

You should discuss using annual leave or FMLA leave with your Human Resources staff. If you go on paid leave at your current salary or unpaid FMLA leave due to your own illness, it would have no impact on your pension benefits. Payment for unused annual leave, unused sick leave or any other one-time payouts are not considered pay for retirement purposes and are not included in an employee’s highest 36-consecutive months of pay.

If you are close to retirement, we encourage you to contact a MOSERS benefit counselor to discuss your individual situation and options.

If applicable, the following deductions may be withheld from your monthly benefit payment:

• Missouri income tax as specified on your W-4P (tax withholding form)
• Federal income tax as specified on your W-4P (Without this form, we are required to withhold federal taxes as if you are married claiming three allowances.)
• MOSERS optional life insurance premium
• Aflac insurance premium
• Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan (MCHCP) premium
• Department of Conservation’s health and life insurance premium(s)
• Miscellaneous deductions such as vision and dental insurance and Missouri State Employees Charitable Campaign (MSECC) contributions

With Aflac and MSECC, you must contact those organizations directly, then they will send us a notice to withhold the appropriate deductions. Otherwise, whether you retire online, or on paper, we will provide you with the required forms for these deductions. Be sure to review our Retirement Guide, which explains why and how to complete various forms at retirement.