Every January, certain PERS Plan 2 members have the opportunity to transfer to Plan 3.
PERS 2 members who have earned service credit in January can opt to transfer to PERS 3 in January 2010 if they initially established membership in PERS 2 prior to March 1, 2002. Those PERS 2 participating employees who were hired on or after March 1, 2002, are not eligible because they made an irrevocable decision for their plan choice within 90 days of being hired.
Resources are available to help employees with the transfer decision. Member handbooks and other state Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) publications are available on the DRS Member Information website. Investment education information is available on the Plan 3 Investment Education website.
Financial modeling software is available to help compare projected benefits for Plan 2 versus Plan 3 based on each person’s situation. Participants will need the account balance from their most recent annual statement from the DRS.
Those who have lost this copy can access their account online by visiting “myDRS” in the upper right corner of the DRS webpage and logging on to “Defined Benefit Access.” They also can contact DRS by phone at 800-547-6657 or by e-mail at recep@drs.wa.gov.
The decision to transfer to Plan 3 is irrevocable; once a participant makes that decision, he or she cannot return to Plan 2.
To transfer to PERS 3, complete a Member Information Form and submit it to Human Resource Services during the month of January. The form is available at the Pullman HRS Office at 139 French Ad or online here.
Those who miss this opportunity will have to wait until next January for the next transfer window. For more information regarding the annual PERS transfer, call HRS at 335-4521 or e-mail hrs@wsu.edu.
