To establish your eligibility for retirement, you must submit an acceptable proof-of-age and lawful presence document with your retirement application. You can submit one of the following documents:

• U.S. Birth Certificate (certified with embossed or raised seal issued by state or local government)

OR a photocopy of one of the following:

• Valid Missouri Driver’s License or Missouri Nondriver ID

• U.S. Passport (current or expired)

• U.S. Certificate of Citizenship

• U.S. Certificate of Naturalization

• U.S. Certificate of Birth Abroad

You can mail in or drop off your birth certificate and we will return it.

To upload any of the other documents, log in to myMOSERS. Once you are logged in, click Online Documents and then Document Upload.

Once you upload a document, our staff must process it. Please allow 1-2 business days for it to show as complete in our system.

No, that is not true. A retired member may return to work with a MOSERS-covered employer as long they follow the termination and reemployment rules.

Before receiving a benefit payment from MOSERS, an employee must have a “bona fide termination". For purposes of the MOSERS’ board rules, a "bona fide termination" occurs when:

1. You have completely severed employment;
2. You have 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. You are not subsequently employed by any employer on any basis (full-time, part-time, or other) within 30 days after your employment with your prior employer has ended.

For purposes of these rules, “employer” means the State of Missouri or any other MOSERS-covered employer. See FAQs on Separation of Service for more information.

Upon meeting the termination and reemployment rules, you may return to work and continue receiving your monthly pension payment, as long as your position is not a MOSERS or MoDOT and Patrol Employees’ Retirement System (MPERS) benefit-eligible position.

This is a great question! The source you reference is comparing the change from just the month of December in 2020 to just the month of December in 2021. According to Missouri state law, each January, MOSERS must compare the average monthly values of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the calendar year just completed (2021) to the average CPI from the prior year (2020) to determine the percentage change between the two years. For example, while the difference from the month of December 2020 to the month of December 2021 was nearly 7%, the difference from January 2020 to January 2021 was 1.38%. We must use the average change from one year to the next. Please see the 2022 COLA Calculation Memo for details.

 As you noted, for general state employees, COLAs are based on 80% of the percentage increase in the average (CPI) from one year to the next. The maximum increase is 5% (minimum 0%). Please see the article, The 2022 COLA is Here, for additional information. 

You are correct. Upon meeting the termination and reemployment rules, you may return to work and continue receiving your monthly pension payment, as long as your position is not a MOSERS or MoDOT and Patrol Employees’ Retirement System (MPERS) benefit-eligible position (i.e. a position normally requiring at least 1,040 hours a year).

Contracted employees working directly under a private firm are not typically classified as state employees. Such employment should not interfere with your ability to receive your MOSERS benefit, however, we recommend that you contact the employer to confirm that anyone employed as such would not be considered a state employee.

If you return to work for the state of Missouri in a MOSERS or MPERS benefit-eligible position:

• Your monthly pension payment will stop.
• Depending on various factors (your plan, how long you work, etc.), you may or may not earn additional credited service during reemployment.
• When you retire again, your monthly pension payment will equal the amount you were receiving when you returned to work plus any additional benefit you may have earned during reemployment.

You are correct. For MSEP 2011 members we offer two in-person Ready to Retire seminars in Jefferson City. However, we also have two online webinars available this year on May 17^th and September 20^th. This is a great way to skip the commute and get important benefit information from your home.

You can visit our Ready to Retire page for more information and to learn how to register for a webinar. 

Yes, your pension is secure.

As an institutional investor, MOSERS, like many public pension funds across the country, maintains a diversified portfolio to invest the funds of the System. Within the portfolio, MOSERS utilizes external fund managers when investing in non-US securities, rather than any direct investing. As of March 1, MOSERS had approximately $9 million of indirect Russian exposure within MOSERS’ global investment funds. This exposure, which is a portion of MOSERS’ diversified investment strategy, accounts for approximately 0.07%  (seven one-hundredths of one percent) of the total MOSERS portfolio exposure of $13.3 billion.

The MOSERS Board of Trustees will hold a special Board meeting on Thursday, March 3, at 4:00 p.m. to discuss Russian exposure within MOSERS’ asset allocation.

Unfortunately, the answer is no. If you retired under MOSERS without any MOSERS life insurance, you cannot add it later. Below are the guidelines.

MOSERS offers basic life insurance of one times their annual salary at no cost to active employees. MOSERS members can purchase additional optional life insurance while actively working.

Basic Retiree Coverage After Retirement

• If you retire within 60 days of leaving state employment, the state will continue to provide you with $5,000 of coverage at no cost to you.
• If you wish to do so, you have 60 days from your retirement date to port or convert any remaining basic life insurance through The Standard Insurance Company.

Optional Life Insurance and Retaining Coverage After Retirement

If you retire within 60 days of leaving state employment, or retire directly from active employment, you may be eligible to retain some of your optional life insurance coverage.

• You may retain up to $60,000 in coverage if you are a member of the MSEP. Your coverage cannot exceed the amount your carried while actively employed.
• You may retain all of your optional coverage until age 62 if you are a general state employee who retired under the “Rule of 80” (MSEP 2000) or the “Rule of 90” (MSEP 2011). At age 62, your coverage will automatically reduce to a maximum of $60,000.

Once you terminate coverage in retirement, it cannot be reinstated. You cannot increase your coverage after retirement.

When you make an application to retire with MOSERS, you will have options regarding how your retirement benefit will be paid. BackDROP is simply another payment option available to you if you have worked at least 2 years beyond eligibility for normal retirement (“Rule of 80” or any other age & service eligibility criteria).   

If you work beyond when your reach eligibility for normal retirement (under the “Rule of 80” or any other eligibility criteria), your pay can be included in your highest 36 months of pay IF it is not in your BackDROP period.

Any pay or service you get during your BackDROP period is not counted when calculating your monthly benefit payment. If you become eligible for and elect the BackDROP upon retirement, your highest 36 consecutive months would be determined from your MOSERS-covered work history prior to your BackDROP date.

But keep in mind, you are not required to take BackDROP, regardless of how long you work beyond normal retirement eligibility, and you don’t have to notify MOSERS of any decisions about BackDROP until you retire.

Options:

• You may elect not to take BackDROP, if you want all your service and pay to count and, likely, increase your monthly benefit, or,
• You could elect to take a shorter BackDROP period, or
• You could work additional years, if you want to take advantage of a significant increase in pay being included in your Final Average Pay.

Our BackDROP page, with a BackDROP graphic near the bottom, may help you visualize how it works or you can read the BackDROP brochure for more information. BackDROP can be complicated to understand, so MOSERS benefit counselors are available to help by phone or through an in-person appointment.

Note: BackDROP is available only to general state employees (including university employees) in MSEP and MSEP 2000. 

In order to give priority to our members who may not have been able to attend a session in 2020 or 2021, we are not allowing spouses or guests to attend with you at an in-person Ready to Retire seminar in 2022. However, your spouse or guest is welcome (and encouraged) to attend with you in an online webinar.