Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are coming mid-year. Your COLA will go into effect July 1 and will be included in your August 1 benefit payment.

The percentage you will receive can depend on a few factors, including your membership type, when you earned service/retirement credit, and your retirement date. Membership types are Tier One, Tier Two, and the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP).

To learn what percentage of COLA you will receive and how COLAs are determined, read our cost-of-living adjustments webpage.

If you plan to work for a PERS-participating employer after retirement, check out the applicable rules on our Senate Bill (SB) 1049 webpage.

SB 1049 simplified some previous work-after-retirement rules as of January 1, 2020. Those changes will continue through December 31, 2024.

PERS is not involved in hiring decisions between retirees and employers. Whether a PERS-participating employer hires you, or places any limits on you as a PERS retiree, is between you and your employer.

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.

If you are about to become Medicare-eligible and are seeking health-care options, the PERS Health Insurance Program (PHIP) can help.

Eligibility, enrollment, and plan information is available in a series of videos.

More information can be found on the PHIP website.

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.

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. 

If you are caring for a PERS benefit recipient, you will need to contact PERS — and possibly the PERS Health Insurance Program (PHIP) — if you need to manage the member’s account and/or make health insurance or financial decisions on their behalf. You may need to submit the following forms or information:

• Authorization to Release Account Information* — This form will allow you to access a PERS member’s account information.
• Special Power of Attorney for PERS* — This form will allow you to handle the affairs of a PERS member if they are unable to act on their own behalf.
• Letters of conservatorship or guardianship — A “conservatorship or guardianship” is a court-appointed person or entity (such as a nursing home) that is legally responsible for another person and their property.
• Notification of a member’s death — A family member, beneficiary, or caregiver must notify PERS (and PHIP, if applicable) as soon as possible after the death of a retired member to stop benefit payments and prevent overpayment. Joint account holders or the member's estate may be responsible for repaying PERS for any overpayments that occur. Read more on PERS’ Get Help webpage. 

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

Don’t be a stranger! Keep your information with PERS up to date, and mail or fax your forms to us in a timely manner. Find the forms you need online.

ADDRESS CHANGES: PERS Member Services cannot update addresses by phone or email for security reasons. Use Online Member Services or the Information Change Request form to make updates. To change your address with the PERS Health Insurance Program, you will need to use the PHIP Address Change Form.

DIRECT DEPOSIT: Forms received by the 15th of any month will typically be processed and effective for the following month’s benefit payment.

TAX WITHHOLDING: Updating your address or providing residency status certification does not automatically change your withholdings. Submit a W-4P form to update withholdings for your PERS pension and IAP payments. W-4P forms received by the third week of the month typically will be processed in time for the following month’s benefit payment. 

DIVORCE: Contact Member Services about divorce and PERS benefits.

ACCOUNT ACCESS: The Authorization to Release Account Information form allows you to authorize a third party to obtain information regarding your PERS account or benefits. The Special Power of Attorney for PERS form gives the person(s) you designate the power to make decisions for PERS-related matters on your behalf.

DEATH NOTICES: After a PERS member dies, a representative should contact Member Services as soon as possible. Failure to report a death in a timely manner may result in having to pay back retirement payments. PERS will require the date of death, city and state where the death occurred, a photocopy of the death certificate, and a spouse or personal representative contact information.