Interest has been posted to Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS) member accounts effective as of July 1, 2024.
The interest rates are as follows:
- Basic and MIP members: 4.98%
- Pension Plus members: 4.63%
- Pension Plus 2 members: 6.00%
ORS invests defined benefit contributions from both members and employers to fund future retirement benefits. Each year, ORS credits each defined benefit member's account with an interest payment on their contributions that have been held on account for one full year.
ORS has noticed an uptick in a departing employee’s date of birth changed to the termination date with a DTL1 record. Remember, a Detail 1 – Member Demographics (DTL1) record is not intended for updating status information. Do not use a DTL1 record to report a status change such as termination. If your program is submitting a DTL1 record to report termination, please reassess your software and stop the submissions.
The only termination information ORS requires through normal retirement reporting is the status change date and status change reason code on the DTL4 record. Report the termination date using a DTL4 record on the next available retirement report after the final wages have been submitted. Submit DTL4 records for all employees, even a Defined Benefit member who did not elect to participate in the 457 Plan.
Do not combine the termination date on the DTL4 record with the final wages. For more information, please see the Reporting Instruction Manual (RIM) article 7.04.02: Reporting a terminated employee on a DTL4 record.
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As a reminder, do not report or submit any records for employees who are under the age of 19 while in a temporary, intermittent, an irregular seasonal, or athletic position. The Retirement Act states that these employees are not members of MPSERS until they turn 19 or change jobs to one that’s a regular position.
By not submitting these records, you will also eliminate the need to make future adjustments and the need to submit a termination record. Please see Student employees in section 3.02 Special membership circumstances of the Reporting Instruction Manual.
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In late July, an urgent tax-deferred payment (TDP) notice will be sent out to members who have previously entered into a tax-deferred payment agreement and:
- Have interest charges that exceed their annual payment amount; or
- The scheduled deduction amount is not enough to pay off their agreement within the recommended 15 years; or
- Have exceeded the recommended 15 years to pay off their agreement.
The letter includes their current TDP information and encourages members to increase their current TDP deduction amount by completing and submitting the Supplemental TDP Agreement (R0654C) form. The form is available on the ORS member website under Forms and Publications. Members can also use the TDP calculators on the member website to calculate a payment that fits their budget and also pays off the agreement before they terminate employment or retire.
For more information, see RIM section 10.07.02: Processing the supplemental TDP agreement.
 For your new hires who first worked before July 1 but whose election window doesn’t close until after July 1: if they make no election, they will default into the Defined Contribution plan. Please ensure that your new hires in this position are aware of this. Some may have heard that the default plan changed on July 1 and may assume that their default plan has also changed because they have not elected any plan yet. It’s important that this group understands their default plan very clearly, so they don’t allow their election window to close because they have a wrong assumption about their default plan.
ORS is also doing its part to ensure a smooth transition regarding this new law (PA 250 of 2023) and has updated the following resources for new members.
We updated the PickMiPlan.org website, the welcome, reminder, and confirmation letters to new members, and the guides – the Retirement Plan Election Guide and the Retirement Plan Decision Guide.
We updated the new hire video as well, and added a few Retirement 101 videos, available on the playlist. The link to the New Hire playlist has not changed, so there’s no need to change what you send new hires. We'll be adding more Retirement 101 videos, so keep an eye out for those.
We also added two new publications: Navigating Your Pension Plus 2 Plan and Navigating Your Defined Contribution Plan. The new publications are mailed to members with the confirmation letters.
As a reminder, the new hire process remains much the same for employers– the plans haven’t changed, and the 75-day election window has not changed. For members who elect the Defined Contribution Plan, employers will still need to submit DTL4 adjustment records.
During this transition period, ORS may contact you for verification of new employees’ first day worked so that we can determine their default plan and update it in the system. In addition, DTL2 records for new hires will suspend for 100 days during this transition period, to allow ORS time to determine and enter the appropriate default plan.
Get your new employees started on their journey to retirement. The New Hire Checklist is comprised of 10 action steps they can take immediately. Items include the importance of making a retirement plan election, designating beneficiaries, and more.
New employees can also take advantage of webinars and one-on-one account reviews hosted by Voya’s Michigan-based education team.
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