MoDOT & Patrol Employees’ Retirement System
Your MPERS retirement benefit is calculated using three factors: your salary, a multiplier, and your total creditable service. Of those three, creditable service is the one you have the most direct ability to influence while you are still working.
Creditable service is the total time you have worked in a benefit-eligible MPERS-covered position. Every day you work earns a day of credit, and that accumulating total shapes both the size of your monthly benefit and when you become eligible to retire.
What many members do not know is that creditable service can come from sources beyond your current position.
Credit for unused sick leave. At retirement, unused sick leave converts to creditable service at a rate of 168 hours per month. This applies to all plan members, requires no application, and costs nothing. It is worth knowing how much unused sick leave you have as you approach retirement.
Free transfers. Certain prior service transfers to MPERS at no cost, including service under MOSERS, some non-benefit-eligible MoDOT or MSHP service under the Closed Plan. Free transfers may be available depending on the type of prior service and your plan. This includes eligible service with MOSERS and certain prior service with MoDOT or MSHP. Availability and requirements vary by situation.
USERRA service credit. Qualifying periods of unpaid military leave are credited under federal USERRA law once reemployment requirements are met. This credit is applied automatically and does not require a purchase. Plan provisions may affect how the service is reflected in your benefit calculation.
Service purchases. Members may be eligible to purchase creditable service for prior Missouri public employment, prior active-duty military service, or certified police officer service. Transfers from other public retirement systems, including LAGERS, PSRS, PEERS, KCERS, the St. Louis Employees Retirement System, and the University of Missouri System, may also be available. Eligibility and costs vary by purchase type and plan. If you think any of this prior service applies to you, it is worth looking into before you get close to retirement, as the process takes time, and waiting increases the cost. Contact a benefit counselor for more information.