It is never too
early to be informed about your PSERS (Public School
Employees Retirement System) pension plan!
New, interactive technology at the PSERS website has made
planning for retirement much less mysterious. Any full or part
time professional or support staff employee who has left school
employment or who is currently working and contributing to the
pension fund may apply for an account. A private,
password-protected account at the website will enable you to
“crunch the numbers” and obtain personal estimates for retiring
this year, next year or 10 years from now. Here’s how…
Step One
Go to PSERS at
www.psers.state.pa.us/interaction and click on
the “Get an account” button to register for a new account. At
the registration page, enter your social security number and
your last name (not case sensitive). Once you are verified, you
will be asked for your e-mail address, plus a challenge phrase
generated by you and your personal response to it (i.e, What was
my 11th grade English teacher’s name? Mrs. Barnhardt). When you
submit this information, your account is created, but you will
not have access to it until you receive your password by mail.
The day after you register, PSERS will mail you a letter with
your account information, the password they have assigned to you
and instructions for logging in to the interactive website. If
you do not receive this letter within 10 days, please call PSERS
toll-free at 888-773-7748.
Step Two
When you receive your password via U.S. mail, you can collect
your current contract and a calculator, log onto the Internet
and begin. Access the website at: www.psers.state.pa.us/interaction.
Be sure to read the information regarding your operating system
and your web browser. Logging on is a little different than many
password protected websites. Your user name is not your first or
last name; it is the first letter of your last name, followed by
an underscore and then your Social Security number without any
dashes or spaces. For example, C_123456789. The password
assigned will look like this: PS_98765.
Now that you are
logged in and have read the disclaimers, there are many useful
functions to explore. You can change your password and your
challenge question, which you previously established. You can
print a personal Summary of Account. Most interesting, you can
print future retirement estimates based on estimated final
average salary, retirement dates and the years of experience
that you specify.
Here are a few
tips to help you calculate those future retirement estimates.
Select the “Estimate Calculator” and read the opening
paragraphs. At the bottom of the page, click on “Continue.” When
entering salary estimates and years of experience, you may use a
decimal point. Otherwise, do not use any punctuation, such as
dollar signs or commas. If you get a message which says “That is
not a number,” you are probably making a punctuation error. To
enter a retirement date, use the MM/DD/YY format. As you
increase your years of experience, remember to push forward your
date of retirement accordingly. Note that your member
contributions and member interest amounts do not change as you
enter different dates. Another part of the website will help you
make those adjustments accordingly.
After you click
‘calculate,’ your retirement estimate will appear. As you rest
the mouse pointer on Option 1, 2, 3, and Maximum, a brief
definition will appear, explaining each particular option. It is
especially interesting to compare retiring before and after age
55, as well as before and after 35 years of experience. Keep in
mind that estimates are calculated before taxes, just as your
current salary or hourly rate is quoted to you without taxes
deducted. Your estimate is not your “take home” amount. Good
luck planning your future!
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