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Many state employees have worked, or will someday work, in another
governmental unit within Minnesota such as a county, city or school district.
As a government employee, you would probably be covered by another Minnesota public
retirement plan which can coordinate with your service as a state employee.
Under the Combined Service Annuity (CSA) Law, the various public retirement plans work together
almost as if all of your public employment was with one retirement plan. The retirement plans listed below are covered under CSA law:
Hired before July 1, 2010: To qualify, you must have three years of service in two or more plans (Judges and Legislators Plans require more) with a minimum of six months of service with each plan, and you must start receiving retirement benefits from all of the plans within one year. Hired on or after July 1, 2010: To qualify, you must have at least five years of service in two or more plans with a minimum of six months of service with each plan, and you must start receiving retirement benefits from all of the plans within one year. How Combined Service works Your service with the other plans counts for eligibility of benefits. For example, most plans require three years of service to qualify for monthly retirement, survivor, or disability benefits (for employees hired on or after July 1, 2010, you need five years of service). If you have two years covered by PERA, and one year under MSRS, you would be eligible for monthly benefits. The service can also be used to qualify for early retirement benefits, such as the Rule of 90 or retirement with 30 years of service, if hired before July 1, 1989. In addition to having the service credit work together, the same high-five salary can be used to calculate monthly benefits. For example, if you have 25 years covered by MSRS, and two years covered by PERA, it is likely that your current salary is higher than when you contributed to PERA. In this example, MSRS would tell PERA what your current high-five salary is, and they would use that salary to calculate benefits based on the two years of PERA service. If your high-five salary was higher using the PERA service, then MSRS would use the high-five salary including the PERA time. You can use Combined Service with two or more covered pension plans. For example, if you contributed to PERA, TRA, and MSRS, all three could be used together to calculate your monthly benefits under Combined Service. If you have service with another pension plan, make sure you notify MSRS so we can contact the other fund to provide accurate benefit information. When you switch public employers in Minnesota, your contributions and service credit are not rolled into the new plan. The service credit earned will remain with the employer in which it was earned. When you retire, you will receive a payment from each public employer. How Combined Service works between plans which have different retirement ages Combined Service works well with plans that have similar benefits and retirement age requirements, but not quite as well if you have plans with different retirement age requirements. Many public safety plans allow full retirement at age 55, while the age of full retirement for most public employees is age 66 or the Rule of 90. The early retirement provisions of each plan apply to the service attributable to the plan. If you have service with the MSRS General Employees Retirement Plan and the MSRS State Patrol Plan, you are retiring under retirement plans that have very different benefit structures. For example, the MSRS State Patrol Plan allows full retirement at age 55, while the General Employees Retirement Plan allows for reduced retirement at age 55. When calculating the benefit under Combined Service, the benefit from the General Plan will be subject to an early retirement penalty unless you qualify for the Rule of 90, while the benefit from the State Patrol Plan will not be reduced. Reinstating service with another public pension plan Many state employees who had service with another Minnesota public retirement plan forfeited that other service by taking a refund of the contributions with the other plan. If you are currently working for a Minnesota public employer, you may be able to reinstate this time by repaying the refund to the other public retirement plan. By repaying the refund, your service with the other plan would be reinstated and will be used to calculate your monthly benefits. To repay a refund, contact the plan from which you received the refund. Top |
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Telephone: (651) 296-2761, Toll Free: (800) 657-5757, Fax: (651) 297-5238
E-Mail: info@msrs.us
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correspondence with MSRS.
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