If you were not vested (did not have at least 5 years of service) when you left state employment, you must complete 12 continuous months of benefit-eligible employment.

Additionally, if you were a member of MSEP 2011 and took a refund of contributions, you would need to return any refunded contributions plus interest to restore your past service credit.

See Returning to State Employment and MOSERS Covered Employers for more information. Please feel free to contact a MOSERS benefit counselor at (800) 827-1063 (toll-free) or (573) 632-6100 (in Jefferson City) to discuss your individual situation. 

There must be one entire month between the date we receive your application and your retirement date. Using your example, if your retirement date is October 1, your Retirement Application is due no later than August 31 and your Retirement Election Form is due no later than September 30. 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. 

You do not need to notify MOSERS of any decisions about BackDROP until you are completing the retirement process. You can just keep working. Also, you are not required to take BackDROP, regardless of how long you work beyond normal retirement eligibility. We encourage you to sign up for a Ready to Retire seminar or webinar where we will explain the retirement process and BackDROP in more detail. If you register and provide an anticipated retirement date at least two years beyond your normal retirement eligibility date, we will provide benefit estimates with and without BackDROP.

Please note that BackDROP is available only to general state employees in MSEP or MSEP 2000. To be eligible for BackDROP, you must continue working in a MOSERS benefit-eligible position for at least two years beyond your normal retirement eligibility.

If you are actively employed as a state employee, you cannot opt-out or withdraw any funds from your MOSERS defined benefit retirement plan. If you participate in MO Deferred Comp (the supplemental savings program), you may contact them at (800) 392-0925 or (573) 893-1053 to ask about making an emergency withdrawal from your savings.

Members of MSEP 2011 or the Judicial Plan 2011 who leave state employment may choose to either request a refund of their employee contributions (if they don’t anticipate returning to state employment) or leave their contributions with MOSERS (if they do anticipate returning to state employment).

Please note that, there is a 90-day waiting period and if you take a refund, you will forfeit all your credited service. Alternatively, you may leave your contributions with the System if you think you might return to work for the state at some point in the future and would like for those years of service to count toward an eventual retirement benefit. To learn more, please visit our Refund of Employee Contributions page. 

If you saved money with the MO Deferred Comp Plan while employed with the state, you do have the option to withdraw your 457 savings penalty-free upon leaving state service or you may roll your savings balance to another qualified retirement savings plan. Please visit www.modeferredcomp.org for more information.

We encourage you to contact a tax professional or financial advisor for advice specific to your situation.

Absolutely! We encourage members to attend a Ready to Retire session more than once in the years leading up to retirement. Now that you are nearing retirement, it would be a great choice to attend again.

Please note that our system will not allow you to enroll in more than one session in a calendar year. This is to keep seats available for those who are very close to retirement.

The number and types of beneficiaries you have depends primarily on your employment status and eligibility for MOSERS benefits:

• Actively employed as a state employee or
• Inactive-vested (worked long enough to earn a future pension benefit but no longer employed by the state and not yet retired) or
• Retired

ACTIVE: You may have beneficiaries for life insurance (if provided through MOSERS) and/or employee contributions (if you are a member of MSEP 2011 or the Judicial Plan 2011).

INACTIVE-VESTED: You may have beneficiaries for employee contributions (if you are a member of MSEP 2011 or the Judicial Plan 2011). However, you won’t make decisions about your future MOSERS defined benefit pension benefits, including those about survivor beneficiaries, until you apply for retirement.

RETIRED: You may have beneficiaries for life insurance (if provided through MOSERS and you retained life insurance coverage in retirement) and/or employee contributions (if you are a member of MSEP 2011 or the Judicial Plan 2011). You may change the above beneficiaries at any time. You are allowed to change your survivor beneficiaries for your MOSERS defined benefit pension only under the following circumstances:

• You were married at retirement, elected a joint & survivor benefit payment option and your spouse passes away. See more information about reporting a death.
• You were married at retirement, elected a joint & survivor benefit payment option and you get divorced after retirement. Go to the Life Events page and scroll down to Divorce.
• You were single at retirement, elected the Life Income Annuity benefit payment option and then got married. Go to the Life Events page and scroll down to Marriage.
• You elected one of the “life income with guaranteed payments” benefit payment options at retirement and want to change your beneficiary(ies).

Log in to myMOSERS and go to Forms. If any of the above apply to you, you will see the forms to update your beneficiaries. If you still have questions, please contact a MOSERS benefit counselor at mosers@mosers.org, (800) 827-1063 or (573) 632-6100.

If you participate in MO Deferred Comp, which is a supplemental savings plan separate from your MOSERS defined benefit pension plan, you may update your beneficiaries with MO Deferred Comp, on their website. 

Your promised pension benefits are an obligation of the state and they are secure. Unlike individual retirees, MOSERS invests over a very long-term time horizon. Our portfolio is well-diversified and designed to weather the volatility of the financial markets. We encourage you to visit our Funding page to learn more.

Yes, you may continue working as many years as you like beyond your initial retirement eligibility date. If, at retirement, you elect BackDROP, this would affect when your BackDROP period would start. Your BackDROP period will always be the period immediately prior to actual retirement date.

Based on your example:

If you are initially eligible to retire 1/1/2025, but decide to work to 10 more years, retiring in 1/1/2035, and elect a 5-year BackDROP, your BackDROP period would start 1/1/2030.

If you elect a BackDROP, we will calculate your monthly benefit using your final average pay (FAP) and credited service as of your BackDROP date. We would look at your entire pay history prior to the BackDROP period and find the highest 36-consecutive months of pay. We will not include any service credit or pay (including pay increases, overtime, etc.) earned during the BackDROP period to calculate your monthly pension payment.

See the BackDROP page on our website or contact a MOSERS benefit counselor for more information.

Note: BackDROP is available only to general state employees (including university employees) in MSEP and MSEP 2000. 

Retirees will receive their first COLA on the anniversary month of their retirement. The amount of the COLA for the calendar year is calculated each year in January. The COLA this year is 5%.

COLAs are payable on the anniversary of your retirement date except for:

• Retirees who converted from MSEP to MSEP 2000 during the conversion window in 2000 will have COLAs payable in July.
• Retirees who elected a BackDROP will have COLAs payable on the anniversary of their BackDROP date.
• Retirees who were terminated-vested members of the MSEP 2011 will receive their first COLA on the second anniversary of their retirement (rather than the first anniversary).

We will send you a notice, either in the mail or in your MOSERS Document Express online mailbox, during the month when you get your COLA.

Please see the COLA page on our website for additional information.

Yes, if you are eligible for and elect BackDROP, you have three options for your BackDROP lump-sum payment:

• Cash Option: This is either one lump-sum payment at retirement or three annual installments. From any amounts paid in cash, we will deduct 20% for federal income tax (as required by the IRS) and any Missouri state income tax withholding you choose. You will be responsible for any IRS early withdrawal penalties that may apply.
• Rollover Option: We will send your tax-deferred distribution directly to a qualified employer plan, such as Mo Deferred Comp. 
• Combination Cash & Rollover Option: You can take a portion of the lump sum in cash (less 20% for federal income tax, as required by the IRS, and any Missouri state income tax you choose to have withheld) and roll the rest over to a qualified employer plan. You will be responsible for any IRS early withdrawal penalties that may apply.  

MO Deferred Comp is a qualified employer plan and you may be able to roll over your funds to them. Before you make any decisions, we recommend that you read the Special Tax Notice to ensure you understand the tax implications of your choice. We also encourage you to consult a tax professional. Read Thinking About the BackDROP? for more information.