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. 

Your life insurance through MOSERS is term-life insurance, which means it has no cash value and you cannot borrow against it. However, if you are terminally ill with a life expectancy of less than 12 months, you may be eligible to receive a portion of your life insurance benefit (Accelerated Benefits) prior to your death, provided you meet certain conditions. For more information, please see the Life Insurance page on our website and the Accelerated Benefit Instructions. 

As a member of MSEP or MSEP 2000, you may purchase up to four years of active-duty military service credit for service performed prior to last becoming a member of MOSERS. This may include active-duty military training. If you are eligible, please submit the Application to Purchase Active-Duty Military Service. View our Purchasing and Transferring Service Guide for MSEP (Closed Plan) Members or Purchasing and Transferring Service Guide for MSEP 2000 Members for more information. Any purchase of service must be completed prior to when you apply for retirement.

If you have money in your MO Deferred Comp account, as a member of MSEP or MSEP 2000, you can use those funds to purchase prior military service (exception: Roth 457 assets cannot be used to purchase service credit). If you have additional questions about purchasing service,  contact a MOSERS benefit counselor. If you have questions about accessing your funds, contact MO Deferred Comp.

For your MOSERS benefit, "plan cost at annuity starting date" is the total after-tax contributions used to calculate the exclusion amount (amount of your monthly benefit excluded from taxable income). It is important to note that this total doesn’t include your Employee Contributions, as they are paid in pre-tax. However, the total may include any purchases you made with after-tax funds or payroll deductions. 

Pension benefits are calculated using a formula, which is: Final Average Pay (FAP) x a Multiplier* x Credited Service = Monthly Base Benefit

The additional earnings for working in a second job may increase their final average pay. Statutorily required employer and employee contributions must be paid to the System on any such compensation. See MOSERS Board Rule 2-8 for details. 

However, state law says an employee can earn only one day of service credit for each day worked so it would not increase their credited service in terms of retirement eligibility or for calculating their benefit amount.

Below is a simplified example showing how working in an additional position could potentially impact an employee’s benefit. Employees should contact a MOSERS benefit counselor to get an estimate for their particular situation:

Working in one full-time position making $28,307 per year and retiring in MSEP 2000 with 25 years of service:

$28,307/12 months = $2,358.92 as monthly final average pay

FAP ($2,358.92) x Multiplier (0.017) x Credited Service (25) = $1,002.54 monthly base benefit in retirement

Working in one full-time position making $28,307 per year and retiring in MSEP 2000 with 25 years of service plus working in a part-time position at the same rate of pay (an extra 1,000 hours at $13.61 per hour per = $13,610 per year for 3 years):

$41,917/12 months = $3,493.08 as monthly final average pay

FAP ($3,493.08) x Multiplier (0.017) x Credited Service (25) = $1,484.56 monthly base benefit in retirement

*The multiplier for MSEP is 1.6%; the multiplier for MSEP 2000 and MSEP 2011 is 1.7%. 

If you leave state employment prior to becoming eligible for normal retirement, you may request a refund of your employee contributions plus any credited interest. By law, there is a 90-day waiting period before we can issue a refund. By taking a refund, your forfeit all your credited service. Or, you may leave your contributions with the System if you think you might return to work for the state at some point in the future and would like for those years of service to count toward an eventual retirement benefit. See our Employee Contributions brochure for more information.

You can review the full list of MOSERS covered employers to see what state agencies receive our benefits. Generally speaking, an employee must work in a position normally requiring at least 1,040 hours per year to qualify for MOSERS benefits. It is important to note that it is the responsibility of the employer, not MOSERS, to determine if a position is eligible for MOSERS benefits. If you were to go to work for any other MOSERS covered employer in a benefit-eligible position, it would add to your existing state service.

Depending upon your plan membership (MSEP, MSEP 2000, or MSEP 2011), you may be able to purchase or transfer service from one retirement system to another, including the following types of service

• Service with MODOT or the Missouri Highway Patrol
• Service with a city, county, or public school in Missouri
• Prior military service
  

Purchasing or transferring service may increase your pension benefit and may make you eligible for retirement sooner. For more information contact a MOSERS benefit counselor and see

Purchasing and Transferring Service Guide for MSEP (Closed Plan) Members

Purchasing and Transferring Service Guide for MSEP 2000 Members

Purchasing and Transferring Service Guide for MSEP 2011 Members

You are not able to access your MOSERS defined benefit pension until retirement. However, if you no longer work in a MOSERS benefit-eligible position, and you are a member of MSEP 2011, you may be eligible to request a refund of your employee contributions. By taking a refund, you will lose all your credited service and future rights to receive pension and LTD benefits from MOSERS. By law, there is a 90-day waiting period before we can issue a refund.

The MO Deferred Comp 457 retirement savings plan permits in-service withdrawals from your account under the following circumstances; you experience a qualifying, unforeseeable emergency that causes extreme financial hardship, or if your account balance is $5,000 or less – you may elect a one-time, in-service distribution, provided you have not made a contribution during the prior two-year period. Please visit www.modeferredcomp.org for more information or if you have any questions please call (800) 392-0925. 

We are working on a new system that will allow you to make a simple update without re-entering all information for your beneficiaries, but right now, with our current system, you must start over and re-enter all information about your beneficiaries if you want to update one of them.

To update your beneficiary designations, you must first log in to myMOSERS. Complete and submit the Designation/Change of Beneficiaries form (“Life Ins Beneficiaries” from the Forms drop-down menu) for basic and optional life insurance. This form also applies to deleting a beneficiary. You will need to enter the information of your new beneficiaries and submit the form. If you are a member of the MSEP 2011 or the Judicial Plan 2011, you should also complete and submit the Contribution Beneficiaries form for your employee contributions.

Visit our Life Events page for more information.

With BackDROP, you will get a lump-sum payment at retirement in addition to your monthly pension payments from MOSERS. Choosing BackDROP will, most likely, reduce the amount of your ongoing monthly benefit payments. We will provide you with Benefit Estimates at the time of retirement to show your BackDROP options and the impact of taking BackDROP on your monthly benefit payments. You can get estimates at any time by logging in to myMOSERS or by contacting a MOSERS benefit counselor.

At retirement, we will ask you if you want to elect BackDROP or not and, if so, how you want to take your BackDROP lump-sum payment. Your choices are to take it as a cash payment, as a direct rollover to an individual retirement account or eligible employer plan such as MO Deferred Comp, or as a combination of cash and rollover

Along with your first monthly pension benefit payment, we will issue your BackDROP payment (as either cash, rollover, or a combination) on the last working day of the month in which you retire.

Your question about how much you can draw from your BackDROP is really about taxes and possible IRS penalties.

• Cash Option: This is either one lump-sum payment at retirement or three annual installments. From any amounts paid in cash, we will deduct 20% for federal income tax (as required by the IRS) and any Missouri state income tax withholding you choose. You will be responsible for any IRS early withdrawal penalties that may apply.
• Rollover Option: We will send your tax-deferred distribution directly to a qualified employer plan. See the MO Deferred Comp flyer, Thinking About the BackDROP?, for more information.
• Combination Cash & Rollover Option: You can take a portion of the lump sum in cash (less 20% for federal income tax, as required by the IRS, and any Missouri state income tax you choose to have withheld) and roll the rest over to a qualified employer plan. You will be responsible for any IRS early withdrawal penalties that may apply.  

Visit the BackDROP page on our website for additional information.

Note: BackDROP is available only to general state employees in MSEP and MSEP 2000 who work at least two years beyond normal retirement eligibility.