Thank you for the more than 7,700 responses to our 2023 member satisfaction survey. Your feedback will help us to improve our services and how we assist you.

Full analysis will be presented to the PERS Board in September. Members can attend board meetings in person or via webinar. Audio recordings of the meetings are subsequently posted on the PERS Board Information webpage.

If you missed this year’s survey, don’t worry. You can share your feedback with PERS at any time.

Changes are coming in January 2024 to some target-date funds (TDF) in the Individual Account Program (IAP).

Oregon State Treasury, which oversees IAP investments, will change the mix of investments in three TDFs to increase the potential for favorable returns in strong financial markets.

The TDFs that will change are: IAP 2035 Target-Date Fund, IAP 2040 Target-Date Fund, and IAP 2045 Target-Date Fund.

Public equity (e.g., stocks) and fixed income (e.g., bonds) investments will be increased within the funds, while Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF) investments will be reduced.

Besides increasing the return potential, these changes aim to reduce the overall cost of administering the three TDFs.

If your IAP is invested in one of these TDFs, no action is needed on your part. If your IAP is not invested in one of the three TDFs, nothing is changing for you, and you also need not take any actions.

If you review your IAP and decide you want to change the TDF you are invested in, you can do so through Online Member Services (OMS) in September as part of Member Choice. Read more about Member Choice on PERS’ IAP target-date funds​ webpage.

More details about the upcoming TDF investment changes can be found on Treasury's website. For more information about individual fund investments, visit Treasury’s Individual Account Program webpage.

If you wish to change the target-date fund (TDF) in which your Individual Account Program (IAP) account is invested, the option to change it online is coming up next month.

Each September, members can use Online Member Services to make Member Choice elections to change their TDFs. The OMS tool will only be available from September 1 through September 30.

If you choose to change your TDF, this change will not go into effect until January 2024 and will not be reflected on your member annual statement until spring 2025 because of the timing of the cut-off date for member information that goes into the statements.

You can change your TDF only once per calendar year. The choice is irrevocable and cannot be canceled. Your choice will remain in effect unless you make a new election during a subsequent year’s election window.

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

By Kevin Olineck
PERS Director

Administering retirement benefits is not a static endeavor.

As noted in another article in this newsletter, changes to the investment mixes in some Individual Account Program (IAP) target-date funds (TDF) are coming in January 2024. These changes are the result of regular reviews by Oregon State Treasury staff and consultants who helped design the initial TDFs and who continue to advise Treasury on how they should evolve. These reviews ensure the TDFs meet the retirement needs of members now and in the future.

Similarly, the PERS Board oversees regular reviews of the plans they oversee.

For example, a biennial review is conducted by the board on the assumptions and methods used in actuarial valuations of PERS plans. Actuarial valuations estimate a plan’s financial position at a specific point in time to determine the plan’s financial obligations and funded status.

In its biennial review, the board works with a consulting firm, Milliman, to assess and update actuarial assumptions and methods as needed so that they accurately represent current economic conditions (e.g., inflation and salary increases) and long-term investment projections.

They also compare the plan’s “experience” — a snapshot that includes the current rate of new member enrollments, terminations, retirements, deaths, and disability retirements — to current assumptions. Regular reviews and updates help ensure that forecasts of PERS financial health are accurate and that the plans will be able to meet their obligations to PERS members.

The board’s biennial review occurs in odd-numbered years and spans multiple board meetings, allowing the board adequate time to consider any actuarial revisions. The board typically approves any changes at their fall meeting.

This year, 2023, is another odd-numbered year, meaning the board is currently conducting such a review process. Any changes the board makes to actuarial assumptions and methods this September will be used for two years’ worth of actuarial valuations: one for the year ending December 31, 2022, which will be completed in fall 2023, and another for the year ending December 31, 2023, which will be completed in fall 2024.

The completed 2023 valuation results will then be used to set overall member and employer contribution rates for 2025-27. These contribution rates are what the board uses to help balance the PERS funding equation (see the graphic above) and ensure PERS, the agency, can fulfill its mission of paying the right person the right benefit at the right time.

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’ Tier One/Tier Two steps 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:

• Retirement applications must be submitted to PERS within 90 days of your retirement day.
• 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, requesting benefit estimates, and responding to requests from PERS for additional information 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 are purchasing time, contact PERS to make sure the check you mailed was received.

If you have questions, contact Member Services for assistance.

If you’re in the process of retiring and plan to work after retirement for a PERS-participating employer, you need to tell your future employer the following two things:

• What your effective retirement date is.
• That your retirement application is in process with PERS.

Failure to provide this information to your future employer could cause you to be incorrectly hired after retirement as a regular employee rather than as a retired temporary employee. Errors of this kind can negatively impact your retirement benefits, such as delaying payments.

Future employers who need to be notified include any PERS-participating employer you plan to work for after retirement — even your current employer, if you intend to work for them as a retired temporary employee.

If you have questions, contact Member Services for assistance.

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