Any changes you made to your Individual Account Program (IAP) Target-Date Fund (TDF) in September 2022, took effect on January 1, 2023, and you cannot make any new changes in Online Member Services until the next Member Choice window in September 2023.

Changes that took effect in January will not be reflected on the member annual statement you receive this spring because the cut-off date for account information that goes into your statement was December 31, 2022. You will see January 2023 changes on your spring 2024 statement.

Find full information about Member Choice on the IAP Target-Date Funds​ webpage.

Share your feedback and help PERS, the agency, improve our member services by taking our annual member satisfaction survey.

Starting May 1, you can complete the survey online. PERS will send a reminder about the survey once it's available.

You will have until May 31 to complete the online-only survey.

In January 2023, the limit on subject salaries used in benefit calculations increased to $225,533* per year. 

PERS uses subject salaries to determine member IAP contributions, employer contributions to fund the pension program, and the final average salary for calculating retirement benefits under formula methods.

If you plan to retire in the first few months of 2023, be aware that salary limitations also apply to working partial years. Read more about Senate Bill 1049 salary limits and partial year salary limits online.

*Indexed annually to the Consumer Price Index

If you earn more than the monthly salary threshold, a portion of your 6% IAP contributions is now redirected into your Employee Pension Stability Account (EPSA). EPSA contributions and earnings from 2022 will be shown on your 2022 member annual statement, which you will receive in spring 2023. The redirect to EPSA remains in effect when the PERS system is less than 90% funded*.

To offset the redirect, you can opt to make a 2.5% voluntary contribution to your IAP or consider increasing your retirement savings elsewhere, such as with the Oregon Savings Growth Plan (OSGP). Remember that you can begin or end voluntary IAP contributions by logging into your Online Member Services (OMS) account.

Find full information about Member Redirect on the IAP redirect webpage.

*The latest actuarial valuation shows that PERS' funded status is 86% as of December 31, 2021. This valuation includes funding from employer sources known as "side accounts."

Your retirement future is up to you. How you plan and save for your retirement can determine your retirement security.

To check whether you’ll have the money you need for a secure retirement, begin by gathering benefit estimates for your retirement accounts and Social Security. Two available estimation tools are:

• Tier One/Tier Two pension — Log into Online Member Services, and click the "Benefit Estimate" link to get started.
• Social Security — Use the federal Social Security Administration’s online benefits calculators.

Add up your estimates and compare your total to what financial experts say you’ll need when you retire: 80% of your working income.

If your total estimate falls short, you may consider saving additional money in other retirement accounts.

One option for saving more is the Oregon Savings Growth Plan (OSGP). OSGP offers both pre- and post-tax retirement savings options and various free educational workshops. Check with your employer to see if OSGP is available to you.

Preparing for retirement requires many steps — from estimating whether you’re saving enough to designating beneficiaries as applicable to your membership type.

Something else to plan for is who will act on your behalf in the event of severe illness or death. Check out these resources:

• Authorization to Release Account Information* — This form will allow you to name other parties who can receive information about your PERS benefits, including account balances and benefit estimates.

• Special Power of Attorney for PERS* — This form will allow you to designate others who can make decisions about your PERS benefits on your behalf. 

Also be aware that when you die, a family member, beneficiary, or caregiver must notify PERS. More information about death benefits is available on the PERS website.

*Note that the account information release and special power of attorney forms are only valid while the member is alive.

As you ponder your future retirement, don’t forget about health care.

Many public employees have the majority of their health insurance costs covered by their employers while they are still working. In some cases, employers may cover up to 99% of medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance premiums. When you stop working, the cost of your insurance coverage will rest solely with you. 

Depending on your age and other factors at retirement, you may or may not yet be eligible for Medicare coverage. Even when you are eligible, Medicare does not cover all health care costs, and you may wish to have supplemental coverage to bridge the gap.

Once you become a PERS retiree, several health insurance options will become available to you through the PERS Health Insurance Program (PHIP). PHIP offers Medicare and non-Medicare plans, as well as dental options.

Visit the PHIP website or call 800-768-7377 for more information about the program.

Additional information about health care coverage and costs

• Some industry estimates say the average health care costs in retirement amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. 
• Estimator tools can help you explore possible health care costs. Fidelity, a financial services corporation, offers one such tool. This tool is for general information only and not a guarantee of future costs. 
• If you have questions about Medicare, check out the Oregon Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance (SHIBA) program. SHIBA offers certified, local counselors who can help.

Are you planning to retire in the near future? Don’t wait until the last minute to prepare.

Check out these helpful resources from PERS to get ready:

• Review PERS’ I Want to Retire webpage and follow the instructions.
• Attend an education session. 
• Schedule a retirement application assistance session (RAAS). 
• Get a written benefit estimate when you are within 24 months of being eligible to retire. You also can create estimates online earlier through your Online Member Services (OMS) account.

Also, keep the following important points in mind:

• It can take up to 92 days from your retirement date (not the date of your application submission) for your first pension benefit to be paid.
• Once PERS receives your application, we will review your account information and reconcile data with your employer(s) as needed. Data discrepancies can sometimes cause your finalized benefit amount to differ from benefit estimates you received earlier. Remember that benefit estimates are just that — estimates.
• Filling out your application correctly, checking your personal information in OMS or on your member annual statement, and getting benefit estimates can help you avoid delays in the processing of your application. If you find errors in your personal/account information, contact your employer for corrections.
• Individual Account Program (IAP) retirement benefits can typically take from 90 to 120 days to process and complete payments or rollovers. Processing is done both by PERS and Voya, which administers IAPs for PERS.

If you have questions, contact Member Services for assistance.

By Tobias Read
Oregon State Treasurer

Years like 2022 serve as a reminder that the Oregon State Treasury’s ability to invest the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF) is among the nation’s best.

Last year, global markets were hammered by inflation and economic uncertainty.

Our investment team was prepared and navigated the volatile marketplace to minimize losses. By constructing our portfolio to withstand various market conditions, we were able to save billions of pension dollars, as compared to our peers and their returns.

In fact, OPERF’s performance garnered recognition as the best-performing fund among pension peers in fiscal year 2022 and over the past 20 years, according to the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service.

Because OPERF is a trust, neither the state of Oregon nor any other parties have proprietary interest in it. As such, all of our decisions about how OPERF is designed, invested, and managed are guided solely by our fiduciary responsibilities to beneficiaries like you — nearly 400,000 current and former public employees.

We reinforce these primary fiduciary obligations to other stakeholders and interested parties when asked about our investment approach and the investments we pursue. 

Our approach to investing OPERF funds is constantly evolving to adapt to shifting markets and global trends, with the sole purpose of generating earnings for you.

As conversations around changing our investment approach occur, I urge you to contact me and my team at Treasury. We will do our best to answer your questions about how these proposed changes might impact your retirement benefits. 

As of January 2023, OPERF was valued at more than $93 billion. The money in OPERF belongs to all of you and no one else.

We are mindful of this with each decision we make, especially because nearly 75% of all benefits paid out to retirees are made possible by Treasury-managed investments earnings.

Understandably, the importance of funding ongoing benefit payments and the complexity of generating returns no matter the market environment might not be obvious to everyone.

We know that any decline in earnings would require increased contributions from employers and reduced budgets for critical services at schools, fire and police departments, and other community programs.

This is a reality we never want our beneficiaries or local communities to face, and it’s why we place such a premium on making investment decisions that put you first. 

We won’t forget our obligation to you. 

The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF) earned -1.55% in investment returns for 2022. 

However, annual earnings credited to member accounts will be different than this rate. They differ because of administrative expenses and various requirements set by state law, administrative rules, and PERS Board actions.

The board approved the 2022 annual earnings crediting to member accounts at its April 3, 2023, meeting. You can find the rates credited to various accounts on the 2022 earnings crediting webpage. The accounts include Tier One/Tier Two regular accounts, the Individual Account Program target-date funds, and Employee Pension Stability Account.

The 2022 earnings credited to your accounts will be reflected in your upcoming 2022 member annual statement. You should receive this statement by the end of May.

OPERF is managed by Oregon State Treasury under the direction of the Oregon Investment Council (OIC).

PERS staff will not make unsolicited calls to you and will never ask you for account login or financial information.

PERS will only contact you in response to a request you made, a form you submitted, or another action you took. If you are unsure whether someone contacting you is from PERS, call Member Services directly at 1-888-320-7377 to check.

Read more on our Protect Yourself from Fraud webpage.