It is possible this employee may have prior state service or may have purchased or transferred service in order to meet the requirements for “80 and Out” or they may be misstating or misunderstanding the terminology. Also, it is important to remember that, in order to retire, members are not required to have age and service equal 80 (or 90 for MSEP 2011) if they meet another set of age and service requirements first. If you or your co-workers have any additional questions about retirement eligibility, see the requirements and click on the plan information below or contact a MOSERS benefit counselor.  

NORMAL (UNREDUCED) RETIREMENT ELIGIBILITY  REQUIREMENTS:

MSEP Members

• Age 65 + 5 years of service or
• Age 60 + 15 years of service or
• “Rule of 80” – (at least age 48) when age + years of service = 80 or more

MSEP 2000 Members

• Age 62 + 5 years of service or
• “Rule of 80” – (at least age 48) when age + years of service = 80 or more

MSEP 2011 Members

• Age 67 + 5 years of service or
• “Rule of 90” – (at least age 55) when age + years of service = 90 or more at time of termination

EARLY (REDUCED) RETIREMENT ELIGIBILITY  REQUIREMENTS:

If you elect early retirement, your base benefit will be reduced by one-half of one percent (0.005) for each month your age at early retirement is younger than your normal retirement age.

MSEP: Age 55 with 10 years of service

MSEP 2000: Age 57 with 5 years of service

MSEP 2011: Age 62 with 5 years of service

If you leave state employment this year at age 60 years, 9 months, you will be required to wait and draw your benefit at age 67.  In order to be eligible for early retirement, you must reach age 62 prior to leaving state employment. Please note that taking early retirement will reduce your base benefit by ½ of 1% (.005) for each month your age is younger than normal retirement age. Your normal retirement age would be at 67. You can find more information in the MSEP 2011 Handbook.

Early retirement is an existing option available to most MOSERS members (but not available to legislators or statewide elected officials). As a general state employee, if you elect early retirement, your base benefit will be reduced by one-half of one percent (.005) for each month your age at retirement is younger than your normal retirement age.

We are not aware of any proposed early retirement incentives for state employees. Any such incentive would require legislative authorization. There were no early retirement incentives that passed during the recent regular legislative session that ended on May 14, 2021. Anytime the Missouri General Assembly is in session, you can follow any bills affecting MOSERS on our Legislation page.

View Pension Plans on our website for more information including details on normal (unreduced) and early (reduced) retirement eligibility for MSEP, MSEP 2000, and MSEP 2011. 

We are not aware of any proposed early retirement incentives for state employees. Any such incentive would require legislative authorization. There were no early retirement incentives that passed during the recent regular legislative session, which ended May 15, nor during the special session this past summer. Anytime the Missouri General Assembly is in session, you can follow any bills affecting MOSERS on our Legislation page. The General Assembly will meet again for their next regular session beginning in January 2021. 

No, your benefit will not be subject to reduction if you are vested, leave service, then retire at age 67. (The reduction you are referring to is for “early retirement” and is a reduction of ½ of 1% (.005) off your base benefit for each month your age is younger than normal retirement.)

However, if you continue working until you are 67, then your benefit would ultimately be higher because you would have more service. When you apply for retirement, your base benefit will be calculated using a formula that takes into account your final average pay and your credited service. For a more in-depth look at which option may be best for you, we encourage you to use our Comparison Calculator to compare various scenarios over time or contact one of our benefit counselors.

Benefit counselors are available:

Monday - Friday
8:00 am - 12:00 pm
1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Contact Us:

(800) 827-1063 toll-free
(573) 632-6100 in Jefferson City