By Yvette Elledge-Rhodes
PERS Deputy Director

As I prepare to retire at the end of this month, I’ve found myself reflecting on what these past 36 years at PERS have meant to me. When I started working at PERS, things looked very different — both inside the agency and in the way we served our members.

Back then, everything was on paper. Every transaction, every communication, every record was written, printed, mailed or filed by hand. There was no website to click through, no Online Member Services (OMS) to log into. If you had a question, you either mailed us a letter, came to the office, or picked up the phone.

And on the other side of that phone? Just a handful of staff answering calls — nothing like the bustling, 30-person call center we have today.

Employers, too, submitted all their reports and documents on paper. The stacks of files were impressive, if not daunting.

Fast forward to the mid-2000s, and everything began to change. The launch of our first website and OMS opened new doors for members, allowing you to access your accounts and information without waiting for the mail.

Since then, digital communication has only grown. Today, PERS shares updates not only through letters but also through email newsletters, our website, our annual PERS Expo, and, of course, the annual statement that every member receives.

The way we connect with you has become faster, clearer, and more accessible than ever before.

It hasn’t just been the technology that has changed — our agency itself has grown tremendously.

When I joined PERS in 1989, we had fewer than 100 employees. Today, we have more than 440 dedicated professionals, each one focused on serving our members and employers with care and accuracy.

Together, we now support more than 422,000 members and more than 900 employers across the state. That scale of service would have been hard to imagine when I first walked through the doors.

Looking ahead, I know PERS will continue to evolve.

We’ve already taken important steps in our modernization journey, such as implementing a new call center system to improve the member experience.

Even bigger changes are on the horizon as part of our modernization program. These efforts will upgrade our online systems, improve efficiency, and create more tools for members to manage their retirement journey with confidence.

The pace of change may be faster than ever, but it’s all moving in the right direction.

For me, the most rewarding part of my career has been the people — both the members we serve and the colleagues I’ve had the privilege to work alongside. Our staff are talented, hardworking and deeply committed to public service. I’m confident that as I step into retirement, our members are in excellent hands.

And speaking of retirement, I’m proud to say I’ll soon be joining the ranks of PERS retirees myself. I take comfort knowing that the same system I’ve worked to support all these years will now support me, just as it does for more than 168,000 retired members who came before me.

It has truly been an honor to spend my public service career here.

Thank you for allowing me to serve you, to witness the changes, and to help PERS grow into the strong, modern organization it is today.

While I may be turning the page into a new chapter of life, I leave with gratitude and confidence that the best is still ahead — for both PERS and all its members.

Editor's note: Kai Turner will succeed Elledge-Rhodes as PERS deputy director. Turner previously served as assistant superintendent of finance and information technology for the Oregon Department of Education. He joins PERS in early December and will work with Elledge-Rhodes on this leadership transition until she retires at the end of 2025.

If you are about to retire and are reviewing your health insurance options, visit the PERS Health Insurance Program (PHIP) website. The website offers information about PHIP eligibility rules; Medicare, non-Medicare, and dental plans; PHIP rates; and answers to other PERS health insurance questions. 

Contact PHIP at 1-800-768-7377 or visit the PHIP website for more information.

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, which are available to you throughout your career.
• Schedule a retirement application assistance session (RAAS) for a date within the 90 days before your PERS retirement date to review your retirement paperwork before turning it in.
• Get a written benefit estimate when you are within 24 months of being eligible to retire; the form to request a written estimate is available online. You also can create estimates online earlier through your Online Member Services (OMS) account.

Also, keep the following important points in mind:

• Retirement applications may be submitted to PERS up to 90 days before your planned 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. This process can sometimes result in a final benefit amount that differs 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 are working for a PERS-participating employer and find errors in your personal/account information, contact your employer for corrections. If you are not working for a PERS-participating employer, read the inactive member section on our Change your address webpage for instructions.
• 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 your payment was received — whether you mailed a check or used a trustee-to-trustee transfer to make the purchase.

If you have questions, contact Member Services for assistance.

At PERS, a member's “subject salary” is used to determine their Individual Account Program (IAP) contributions, employer contributions to fund the pension program, and the final average salary for calculating retirement benefits under formula methods.

Beginning in 2020, Senate Bill (SB) 1049 changed the definition of "salary" for PERS purposes and created new limitations on annual and monthly "subject salaries." The limits can vary each year based on the Consumer Price Index.

For more details about SB 1049, read the Senate Bill 1049 (2019) member information webpage.

Are you thinking about working for a PERS-participating employer after retirement? Be sure you’re familiar with the latest guidelines.

Senate Bill (SB) 1049 (2019) simplified some previous work-after-retirement rules as of January 1, 2020. House Bill (HB) 2296 (2023) extended the rules set by SB 1049 through 2034. These rules, however, do not apply to some early retirees and disability retirees.

Read more on our SB 1049 and HB 2296 Changes: Work After Retirement and our Working after retirement: Tier One/Tier Two webpages.

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

As year’s end approaches, you may wonder when you will receive your next member annual statement. Your 2025 statement will be mailed by the end of May 2026 and will reflect data submitted by your employer as of December 31, 2025.

It takes that long to prepare your statement for two reasons:

• The PERS Board must adopt final earnings crediting before statements can be finalized. This adoption will occur at the board's spring 2026 meeting.
• PERS must painstakingly check the accuracy of contribution information received from more than 900 employers regarding more than 200,000 nonretired member accounts.

While you wait, explore our Member Annual Statement FAQs webpage, which includes interactive examples and information to help you understand your statement. Also, check that your mailing address, phone number, and email address are correct through your Online Member Services (OMS) account. If you need to change your information, contact your employer to have it updated in the PERS reporting system. If you are not currently working for a PERS-participating employer, you can change your information yourself in OMS. Make any necessary changes as soon as possible.

To receive alerts about annual statements, sign up for GovDelivery emails on this topic from PERS. If you have questions, contact Member Services.

Naming your beneficiaries and keeping those designations current is a critical part of retirement planning.

Here’s why: If you have not designated a beneficiary prior to your death, PERS will pay the balance of your member account in a priority order set by state law. That order is:

• A surviving spouse or someone required by law to be treated as a spouse.
• Surviving children.
• Your estate.

Locating next of kin can be challenging and substantially delay payment of your benefits to your survivors. To avoid delays, PERS encourages members to complete and submit beneficiary forms for both your pension and your Individual Account Program (IAP) account. Submit beneficiary forms directly to PERS; turning them into your employer doesn't count.

If you have designated a beneficiary and die before retirement, PERS will pay the amounts in your Tier One or Tier Two member account and your IAP account to your designated beneficiaries.

If your death meets certain criteria, your beneficiary may be eligible for an additional employer-funded amount that matches the value of your Tier One or Tier Two member account.

If your spouse is your sole Tier One or Tier Two beneficiary, they may be eligible to receive the Optional Spouse Death Benefit (OSDB), which is a lifetime monthly payment based on the benefit you earned, if certain conditions are met:

• You are working for a PERS-participating employer at the time of your death, or your death is within 120 days after your employment ended.
• Your spouse is your sole beneficiary.
• Your spouse completes an OSDB estimate/election form that PERS sends them. PERS must receive the form from your spouse within 60 days of the date on the estimate. Postmarks do not count.

When a survivor or executor notifies PERS of your death, PERS will ask them to provide the date of death, city and state where the death occurred, a photocopy of the death certificate, and their contact information.

Processing death benefits typically can take months. To avoid processing delays, PERS recommends keeping your beneficiary designations current. Again, your survivors or executors should notify PERS of your death as soon as possible.

If you have questions about beneficiaries, contact PERS. Beyond the death of a member, you will want to contact PERS when other major life events occur, such as marriage, divorce, or the death of a beneficiary.

Thank you to the more than 9,000 members who took our 2025 member satisfaction survey earlier this year.

Your feedback will be used to help improve our services and how we assist you.

A presentation of survey results is available in the PERS Board’s September meeting packet online. The member survey presentation begins on page 251 of the packet.

You also can check out a recording of the full board meeting online.

Oregon PERS paid about $4.88 billion in benefits to retired members or their beneficiaries living in Oregon in 2024. The $4.88 billion figure does not include payments from the Individual Account Program (IAP).

PERS conducts an annual economic impact study to show how benefits paid to PERS' retirees support the state’s economy. Funding for PERS retirement benefits comes mostly from investment earnings on contributions previously paid by PERS members and public employers.

The financial impact of PERS benefits is not limited to $4.88 billion. Benefit payments also generate tax revenue and support jobs and related wages.

When adjusted to include tax revenue, jobs, and wages, the value of PERS retirement payments to Oregon’s economy grows to $5.55 billion.

Read the full Economic Impact Study 2024 online.