Thinking About Purchasing Service Credit? This Tool Can Help!
Service credit is the amount of time you have worked for a PERA employer. If you worked for a non-PERA employer during your career, you might want to include those years in your PERA benefit calculation. Purchasing service credit gives you PERA credit for that time and helps you receive a higher benefit, retire earlier, receive a larger PERACare health care subsidy, or all three. With the “Cost to Purchase” calculator, you can calculate the cost to purchase service credit to help you decide if purchasing service credit is right for you.
To access the “Cost to Purchase” calculator:
- Use your user ID and password to log in to your PERA account.
- Select “Calculators” from the left-side menu of the home page.
- Navigate to the “Service Credit” tab at the top of the page.
- Select the “Cost to Purchase” calculator.

With this tool, you can adjust the amount of service credit you want to purchase, how many payment installments you want, and the down payment for the purchase to see how it will affect the cost of your purchase.
If you’re interested in learning more about purchasing service credit and purchasing eligibility, visit the “Purchasing Service Credit” webpage.


