Attention CURP Employers!

Please remind your eligible employees of the recent amendment to the MOSERS Transfer of CURP Membership rule. Participants in CURP who were employed prior to January 1, 2011 and who wish to transfer from CURP to the MSEP 2000 defined benefit pension plan, must have the transfer form filled out, signed, and to their HR department on or before December 31, 2020. Please visit the CURP page of our website and see below for additional information.

On November 19, 2020, the Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (MOSERS) Board of Trustees amended the Transfer of CURP Membership rule.

Effective January 1, 2021, after participating in CURP for at least six years and still employed in a CURP covered position, you may elect to transfer from CURP to the MSEP 2011 defined benefit pension plan administered by MOSERS.

A MOSERS defined benefit pension provides a guaranteed lifetime benefit amount based on years-of-service (from transfer date) x final average pay x a multiplier in addition to a possible temporary benefit until age 62. Upon transfer,

• You will immediately become a vested member of the MSEP 2011. As a member of the MSEP 2011, you must contribute 4% of pay to MOSERS.
• You must meet age and service requirements. The MOSERS MSEP 2011 defined benefit pension plan’s normal retirement is age 67 or earlier (minimum age 55) if retirement age and service under MOSERS equals 90.
• You won’t receive credit in MOSERS for service rendered while participating in CURP. Your MOSERS pension benefit will be calculated based on your MOSERS service only.
• You will forfeit all rights to future participation in CURP (i.e., you can’t go back to CURP). However, you’ll continue to own and control your CURP account with TIAA.

For calculation purposes, the six-year period begins after you’re initially employed in a position covered by the CURP and ends six years later. It includes time for breaks in service, sabbaticals or leaves of absence. If you have questions about the MSEP 2011 defined benefit pension plan, please contact a MOSERS benefit counselor at (800) 827-1063.

If you have approached or are approaching eligibility to participate in this transfer provision, please review the Transferring from CURP to MOSERS Brochure.

Please inform your employees that all retirement benefits initiated on or after January 1, 2021, will be paid via direct deposit. Not only is this method more efficient but it is also more secure. This paperless option allows their benefit payment to be transferred to their account faster and with ease. This process will be mandatory and members will no longer have the option to opt-out of direct deposit. Currently, we issue more than 99% of existing retiree and survivor payments by direct deposit.

In January 2021, we will be cleaning up our HR Update email list.

We will work to keep anyone on the list who has an active Access Authorization form on file with MOSERS. (This form gives authorized users access to employee information through the MOSERS Employer Login and must have been signed by the agency director.)

In January, we will remove email addresses that do not match up in our records with someone who currently has access authorization.

If you don’t have Employer Login access authorization, but still want to get HR Updates, you can. You will just need to re-subscribe in January. If you currently have access but perhaps with a different email address than what we have on file, you can also re-subscribe using the email address of your choice. 

With the new telephonic system, filing will now be paperless and more efficient! Speaking to a representative from The Standard over the phone will make the overall process smoother and more personable. By using this system, there is no need for employees to fill out any of the required pieces of information as this will be done via telephone call. Employees simply need to contact The Standard’s Claim Intake Service Center at (844)-505-6026. Please remind them to contact their Human Resources contact right away after they have filed for disability. This notification will trigger HR to submit information directly to The Standard necessary to review their claim.

• Board Rule 9-2, "Termination of Employment and Reemployment of MSEP/MSEP2000/MSEP 2011 Retiree"
• Board Rule 4-9, "Termination of Employment and Reemployment of ALJLAP Retiree"
• Board Rule 4-10, "Termination of Employment and Reemployment of Judicial Plan or Judicial Plan 2011 Retiree"
• Revisions to various other MOSERS Board Rules.

Before receiving a benefit payment from MOSERS, IRS rules require a “bona fide termination” of the member’s employment. For purposes of these new rules, a "bona fide termination" occurs when:

1. a member has completely severed the member’s employment;
2. the member has not entered into a prearranged agreement, prior to retirement, with any employer for subsequent employment on any basis (full-time, part-time, or other); and
3. the member is not subsequently employed by any employer on any basis (full-time, part-time, or other) within 30 days after the member’s employment with the member’s prior employer has ended.

For purposes of these rules “employer” means the State of Missouri or any other employer covered by MOSERS.

All board rule changes will take effect on December 21, 2020.  

Please inform your employees that all retirement benefits beginning on or after January 1, 2021, will be paid via direct deposit. Not only is this method more efficient but it is also more secure. This paperless option allows their benefit payment to be transferred to their account faster and with ease. Currently, we issue more than 99% of existing retiree and survivor payments by direct deposit. This process will be mandatory and members will no longer have the option to opt-out of direct deposit. Please note that anyone currently receiving paper checks will continue to receive paper checks unless they make a change. 

After a review of our secure Employers site by staff and our internal auditors, we have removed some data from the site, including the life insurance beneficiary data and employee demographic data. This change helps ensure that data provided by MOSERS is being used only to perform MOSERS-related business. If you believe you need this data to perform MOSERS business, please contact us at employers@mosers.org.

In January 2021, we will be cleaning up our HR Update email list.

We will work to keep anyone on the list who has an active Access Authorization form on file with MOSERS. (This form gives authorized users access to employee information through the MOSERS Employer Login and must have been signed by the agency director.)

In January, we will remove email addresses that do not match up in our records with someone who currently has access authorization.

If you don’t have Employer Login access authorization, but still want to get HR Updates, you can. You will just need to re-subscribe in January. If you currently have access but perhaps with a different email address than what we have on file, you can also re-subscribe using the email address of your choice. 

Please share with your staff who are responsible for processing LTD claims and/or submitting payroll data to MOSERS and encourage them to attend.

MOSERS is hosting an employer training webinar on Thursday, December 3 from 10:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. This is a joint session between The Standard and the MOSERS Employer section. You are welcome to attend all sessions or you may attend just the sessions that pertain to your position. Register today at Employer Training Webinar!

Webinar Agenda:

• LTD New Process

  10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

  The Standard is launching a faster, easier, and more personal option for members to apply for long-term disability (LTD) benefits. If you are responsible for processing LTD claims for your employees, join The Standard session to learn more about this new LTD application process! 
  

• Employer Error Reports

  10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

  MOSERS will be discussing the Aged Accounts Receivable Report and the Terminated Report. If you are responsible for submitting payroll data for your employees, join the MOSERS session to learn more about the importance of these reports, how to remedy discrepancies and how to ensure that your employees are correctly receiving their benefits. 
  

• Open Q & A

  11:00 – 11:30 a.m.

Stay around afterward for an open Q & A session. Representatives from both The Standard and the MOSERS Employer section will be on hand to answer questions on either topic.

Recordings will be posted on the MOSERS website as soon as possible after the event. 

With the new telephonic system, filing will now be paperless and more efficient! Speaking to a representative from The Standard over the phone will make the overall process smoother and more personable. Training on this new method will be included in the employer webinar on December 3, 2020, at 10:00 am. This webinar will be an excellent opportunity to learn more and ask questions. You may have received an email with a link to register. If not, you can register here.

It is very important that you submit termination dates on time. We need accurate and timely submissions to pay refunds of contributions to members. Additionally, we are unable to properly calculate a member’s Final Average Pay (FAP) without an accurate termination date. If submissions are not made on time, it can delay the retirement process for your employees and will create errors on your error reports. We appreciate your continued support in making these processes smooth and efficient for you and your employees. 

Three MORE Ready to Retire Webinar Opportunities for this Year!

Please share this information with your employees:

To meet the needs of our members who are getting ready to retire, we have added three more sessions to be held before the end of this year. They are designed for general state employees who are within 5 years of retirement eligibility and are either MSEP or MSEP 2000 members. Registration is open!  

Dates:

• December 8
• December 9
• December 17
  

Time/Agenda:

• 8:30 – 12:00 – MOSERS (includes breaks) 
• 12:00 – 12:30 – LUNCH BREAK
• 12:30 – 1:20 – MO Deferred Comp (MODC)
• 1:30 – 2:20 – Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan (MCHCP)
• 2:30 – 3:20 – Social Security Administration (SSA)
• 3:20 – 3:30 – Final Wrap-up
  

Register:

1. Click this link – Ready to Retire Webinars
2. Select the date (from the dropdown) you wish to attend.
3. Complete the information requested. Once registered you will receive a confirmation email with the opportunity to add the date to your calendar along with reminder emails closer to the date of the session.
   

Online Resources:

• Due to the quick turnaround on these sessions, we will not be mailing packets to enrollees and all resources will be available for download during the webinar. You may also access and/or print the Ready to Retire Reference Book before the webinar if you wish.
• Having a personal benefit estimate to refer to during the webinar is very helpful. Log in to myMOSERS to generate yours online before the webinar. Go to the MOSERS Video Gallery and watch, Creating a Benefit Estimate, if you need some tips.
  

2021 Education Schedule – Coming Soon!

We are currently in the process of finalizing our 2021 education schedule and anticipate having registration open by mid-December. At this time, we anticipate that all events will be held online until June 1. This is due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation. This decision helps ensure the safety of our members as well as our staff. 

In January 2021, we will be cleaning up our HR Update email list.

We will work to keep anyone on the list who has an active Access Authorization form on file with MOSERS. (This form gives authorized users access to employee information through the MOSERS Employer Login and must have been signed by the agency director.)

In January, we will remove email addresses that do not match up in our records with someone who currently has access authorization.

If you don’t have Employer Login access authorization, but still want to get HR Updates, you can. You will just need to re-subscribe in January. If you currently have access but perhaps with a different email address than what we have on file, you can also re-subscribe using the email address of your choice. 

If you have an employee nearing retirement, it is beneficial to pay out any compensatory time balances before or with the employee’s final salary payment. Since this pay may impact the final average pay (FAP) calculation for retirement purposes, a delayed compensatory time payout could result in the employee receiving an incorrect benefit estimate or their first benefit check.

After receiving information on a compensatory time payout, MOSERS must obtain information from you to allocate the pay to the months earned for the calculation of the FAP. Having this information as early as possible will help to make the retirement process as smooth as possible.

We get questions about benefit eligibility, especially related to the reemployment of retirees. Please note that the decision about whether or not a position is benefit-eligible should be based on an analysis of the position, not based on who will fill the position. See the Benefit Eligibility page on our website for more information.

We’re halfway through the 2020 Annual Life Insurance Review period. We will be sending e-mails reminding our eligible members of this opportunity, which ends on October 31^st. During the month of October, members can log in to myMOSERS to increase their optional life insurance coverage, without having to prove insurability! Please encourage your employees to take advantage of this special opportunity to help provide financial security for their loved ones if something happens to them. Don’t miss out!

True or False – When your employee retires, their MOSERS pension benefits may be exempt from state taxes? 

True! The total public pension exemption is limited to the maximum Social Security benefit of each spouse. In order to be eligible for the full deduction, their Missouri adjusted gross income must fall within certain income limitations. If their income exceeds the limitation, they may qualify for a partial exemption.

• Up to $85,000 - Single, Head of Household, or Qualifying Widow(er)
• Up to $100,000 - Married, filing jointly
• Up to $85,000 - Married, filing separately

For more information about taxes, please contact the Missouri Department of Revenue or go to www.dor.mo.gov/personal/ptc/pension.php.

We often receive questions from members regarding Final Average Pay (FAP), and whether pay earned during the BackDROP period (or after they reach their normal retirement eligibility date) is included in FAP.

Please share this information with your employees:

How is Final Average Pay (FAP) calculated?

Whether or not pay, for a given period, will be considered in determining your Final Average Pay (FAP) depends on if you elect BackDROP* (if eligible); not when you reach normal retirement eligibility.

To calculate your pension benefit, we will use your highest 36 full consecutive months of pay – wherever that occurs in your individual pay history. Most people earn their highest 36 consecutive months of pay in their last three years of state employment, but not always. If you become eligible for and elect the BackDROP upon retirement, your FAP will be calculated using your MOSERS-covered work history prior to your BackDROP date. In other words, pay (and service) during the BackDROP period is excluded when calculating your monthly benefit amount.

If at retirement, you do not elect BackDROP, we will review your entire pay history and find the 36-month period with your highest pay (regardless of whether that is before or after you might hit normal retirement eligibility) and will use that in calculating your monthly benefit. You may elect not to take BackDROP if you want all of your pay and service to count. In most cases, opting not to take BackDROP will increase your monthly benefit amount.

*BackDROP is available only to general state employees who are members of MSEP or MSEP 2000.

October is National Retirement Security Month, a national event raising awareness about the importance of saving for retirement. To help your employees reflect on their personal situation, the MO Deferred Comp Plan will be sharing information on its website and social media channels regarding the understating of investment principles, budgeting, calculating your retirement savings needs, and more. In addition, each week the plan will be sharing a checklist of items for your employees to complete at their leisure. Every task they check off will help them reflect on their personal financial situation, increase their financial knowledge, and learn more about the state’s retirement savings plan.

To learn more about National Retirement Security Month, visit https://www.modeferredcomp.org/news/2020-NRSM.html, and be sure to follow the MO Deferred Comp Plan on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

We encourage you to utilize the employer training videos on the MOSERS Employer page. They are a great resource for information. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email us employers@mosers.org.