About PERA button

Account Access Info Button

Active Member Info Button

Employer Info Button

Media Room Button

Retiree/Benefit Recipient Info Button

Tools/Forms/Pubs Button
 

Annual Benefit Increases

When you retire, you will receive annual benefit increases to your PERA benefit based on when you began PERA membership. Note: You must advise Social Security whenever your own earned PERA benefit changes and you receive a spousal benefit from Social Security.

If you began PERA membership on or before June 30, 2005, you will receive an annual increase of 3.5 percent. You are eligible for your first annual increase in the March that immediately follows the calendar year in which you retire, provided your effective date of retirement is December 1, or earlier. For example, if you retired on July 1, 2009, you will receive your first annual increase on March 31, 2010. Benefit increases are prorated for those retirees with less than a full year in retirement.

Benefit recipients who retired during 2008 will receive a prorated annual increase, which is a proportional amount of the 3.5 percent increase, as listed below. (January and February 2008 retirees receive one or two additional month's increase in March 2009 to bring them current to the March cycle.)

Month

Amount of Increase

January

4.08%

February

3.79%

March

3.50%

April

3.21%

May

2.92%

June

2.63%

July

2.33%

August

2.04%

September

1.75%

October

1.46%

November

1.17%

December

0.88%

If you began PERA membership on or after July 1, 2005, and before January 1, 2007, you will receive an annual increase of the lower of 3 percent or the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for urban wage earners and clerical workers. You are eligible for your first annual increase in the March that immediately follows the calendar year in which you retire, provided your effective date of retirement is December 1, or earlier. For example, if you retire on July 1, 2009, you will receive your first annual increase on March 31, 2010. Benefit increases are prorated for those retirees with less than a full year in retirement.

For 2009, your annual increase will be the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for 2008 or 3 percent, whichever is lower. Since the CPI for 2008 was negative 0.5 percent, there will not be an increase for benefit recipients whose date of PERA membership began during the timeframe listed above.

If you began PERA membership on or after January 1, 2007, you are eligible to receive an annual increase of the lower of 3 percent or the CPI for urban wage earners and clerical workers, or a permanent increase for benefit recipients that will exhaust 10 percent of the year-end balance of the market value of the annual increase reserve. You are eligible for the increase if you have been receiving your retirement benefit for the full preceding calendar year and you have retired with a service retirement benefit or with a reduced service retirement and as of January 1 of that year, have reached age 60 or your years of service plus age equals 85. No minimum age or service credit requirements applies to disability retirees. Annual benefit increases are limited to available funds dedicated to this purpose. You are eligible for your first annual increase in the July that follows your first calendar year of retirement. For example, if you retired on December 1, 2009, you may receive your first annual increase on July 31, 2011.

What is the CPI?

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices of goods and services over time. Every month these prices are tracked and then each month's data is averaged and a yearly average is obtained. The CPI measures inflation as experienced by consumers in their day-to-day living expenses.

Source: www.bls.gov

 

 

About PERA Account Access Info Active Member Info Ask Meredith Employer Info Media Room
Retiree/Benefit Recipient Info Tools/Forms/Pubs Contact Customer Service
Help Search Contact Webmaster