Voluntary Retirement Accounts (Available for All Employees)
All SOU employees (excluding students) have the opportunity to voluntarily contribute to retirement savings plans through regular monthly payroll deductions, which can be started, stopped, or changed at any time (no waiting period required). Employees may contribute to both of the below listed voluntary retirement savings plans. A quick comparison between the two plans can be found on the Oregon Public Universities Retirement Plans (OPURP) webpage (who administer the TDI 403b):
Mandatory Retirement Accounts
Mandatory retirement requires eligibility to be met first, which is determined by working in a qualified position for at least six full months at half-time or greater. Classified employees who qualify are placed in PERS. Unclassified employees who qualify make an election between PERS or the ORP.
**PERS members, starting in 2020 Senate Bill 1049 will take effect. Members should review the SOU PERS Legislative Updates webpage for information about how Senate Bill 1049 will impact members. Do note that starting 7/1/2020, members may start electing what target-date fund they wish to invest their IAP funds in.
Retirement Resources
If looking to retire, our Retiree Checklist can assist. It has items to complete 24 months prior to retirement, 12 months prior to retirement, and 3 months prior to retirement.
PERS
- PERS Website
- PERS Member Monthly News Letters
- Request Written Benefit Estimate
- When you are within 24 months of the earliest date you are eligible to retire, you can request a Tier One/Tier Two or Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP) written benefit estimate.
- To create your estimate, PERS will use the most current information provided by your employer(s). Employers report data to PERS monthly, so there could be a slight lag.
- Account balances are current as of December 31 of the previous year.
- Retirement forms for Tier1/Tier 2
- Retirement forms for OPSRP Tier
- IAP (Individual Account Program) Related Forms, What is the IAP, How to elect and update an IAP, and IAP Target Funds.
- When you are within 24 months of the earliest date you are eligible to retire, you can request a Tier One/Tier Two or Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP) written benefit estimate.
- To create your estimate, PERS will use the most current information provided by your employer(s). Employers report data to PERS monthly, so there could be a slight lag.
- Account balances are current as of December 31 of the previous year.
- PERS Divorce Information
- PERS Disability Retirement
- Disability retirement is a benefit you can apply for if you are unable to perform any work for which you are qualified (not just your last or usual job) for a minimum of 90 consecutive days because of an injury or illness.
- If you are considering applying for disability retirement, begin by reading the disability benefits page for your membership type
- PERS Health Insurance Program (PHIP) - look to the PERS Health Insurance tab
- For more information, contact Member Services.