Make Sense of Your Retirement
Understanding your retirement can be hard. There’s a lot to learn and understand. This page will give you some tools to help you plan smarter and be ready when the day comes.
Dependent on your employer, you may have a choice between the PERF Hybrid Plan or the PERF My Choice Plan. If you are choosing you must choose within 60 days of your employment. What's the difference between the two plans?
Hybrid Plan Overview
The PERF Hybrid Plan consists of two separate retirement accounts: a defined benefit (DB) account and a defined contribution (DC) account. Let's explore these.
Defined Benefit (DB)
- The DB or pension, is a guaranteed monthly benefit for vested, qualified retirees.
- 10 years of creditable or eligibility service, or a combination are required to become vested.
- Vested members may receive full pension benefits at:
- Age 65 with 10 years of service
- Age 60 with 15 years of service
- Age 55 with 30 years of service*
*"Rule of 85" Member must be at least 55 and age plus years of service total 85.
Defined Contribution (DC)
- Mandatory 3% of gross wages contributed by you, your employer, or both
- Available as lump sum, direct rollover to another account, systematic withdrawal, or a monthly annuity
- Available upon separation from employment
Retirement Options
Early Retirement: Age 50 to 59 with 15 years of service
Disability Retirement: Disability Retirement: Requires 5 or more years of creditable service, be determined disabled by the Social Security Administration, and be receiving salary and/or employer-provided income protection benefits as of the onset date established by the Social Security Administration.
Retirement while continuing to work: Age 65 with 20 years of service (Millie Morgan) | Age 55 with 20 years of service for elected officials
My Choice Plan Overview
The PERF My Choice Plan is a defined contribution (DC) only plan. Your balance consists of both employer share and member share contributions.
Members' share contributions are a fixed rate of 3% of gross salary and are 100% vested.
Employer Contribution: Normal cost employer share contribution rates range from 0-4.4% for participating employers. Available upon separation of employment and based on full years of participation:
- 1 year = 20% vested
- 2 years = 40% vested
- 3 years = 60% vested
- 4 years = 80% vested
- 5 year = 100% vested
Members are fully vested in the My Choice Plan with 5 years of service and are eligible for retirement at age 62
Retirement Options
Available as a lump sum, a direct rollover to another plan or a lifetime monthly annuity (minimum account balance required).
Disability: Full withdrawal of 3% mandatory contributions and vested percentage of employer contributions.
See More
How is a Pension Calculated
Let's use an example to see how a pension benefit is calculated. We'll follow a member from getting hired through retirement. Let's say that member's name is INPRSon. Now, let's see how our friend does.
Meet INPRSon
INPRSon: By the Numbers
High 5 salary
(Average of 5 highest salaries)x
Years of Service
x
State Law Mandated 1.1%
Annual Amount Divided by 12 months
Monthly Benefit
Enter INPRSon's numbers into the calculator
INPRSon Calculator
State mandated 1.1% is included in this calculation. Calculations are for demonstration purpose only. For a more accurate retirement calculation go to our calculator page.
INPRSon gets hired & has 60 days to decide between Hybrid or My Choice plan.
INPRSon reads the documents found here.
INPRSon chooses the Hybrid Plan so they have both a DB and a DC account.
INPRSon stays engaged by logging into their personal account and reading quarterly and annual statements.
INPRSon retires at age 55 with 30 years of service and has accumulated additional money in a DC account.
INPRSon retires with an average salary of $73,500 for the last 5 years.
Are you a new state of Indiana or local government employee? Go here. If you’re returning to PERF-covered employment with the state of Indiana, you might qualify for the My Choice: Retirement Savings Plan.
Summary of PERF Membership
The Public Employees’ Retirement Fund (PERF) was created on July 1, 1945, to provide retirement and other benefits for state employees and public employees of state and local government entities (political subdivisions). The purpose of PERF is to provide retirement income for the exclusive benefit of eligible employees of participating employers and their designated beneficiaries. Plan benefits are paid from the contributions of participating employers and members plus returns on investment of assets. The PERF Hybrid plan benefit is made of two parts: the defined benefit (DB) and the defined contribution (DC) account. New employees of State of Indiana and local government entities that offer a choice of plans have the option to elect either the PERF Hybrid or My Choice plan. However, members who have prior covered service may be restricted in their choice of plans. State employees who do not elect a plan at hire will default into the PERF Hybrid Plan. This plan election is irrevocable, whether it's by choice or by default.
Below are common resources for PERF Hybrid and My Choice Plan members.
PERF Hybrid Plan
(available to all employees)
Joining PERF under the Hybrid Plan
Working as a member of the Hybrid Plan
Collecting Retirement Benefits under the Hybrid Plan
PERF My Choice: Retirement Savings Plan
(Only available to new state of Indiana and local government employees)
- My Choice Plan Member Handbook (for state employees) – PDF
- My Choice Plan Member Handbook (for local government employees) – PDF
Joining PERF under the My Choice Plan
- My Choice Plan vs Hybrid Plan FAQs
- My Choice Plan vs. Hybrid Side-by-Side Comparison Chart: for Local Government Employees | for State Employees
- PERF Hybrid or My Choice Plan Quiz
- My Choice Plan FAQs for current and future members
Working as a member of the My Choice Plan
- PERF My Choice Plan at a Glance: for State Employees | for Local Government Employees
Leaving Your My Choice Plan-covered Job
- Separation from Service (in Section 4 of handbooks): state employees | local government employees
- Payment Methods (in Section 6 of handbooks): state employees | local government employees
Collecting Retirement Benefits under the My Choice Plan
- Beneficiary or Survivor Benefits (in Section 7 of handbooks): state employees | local government employees
- Disability Benefits (in Section 8.5.4 of handbooks): state employees | local government employees
- INPRS Retired Member Resources
- Who May Act for the Member
Top PERF Hybrid Plan Member FAQs
Top PERF My Choice Plan Member FAQs
Indiana Public Retirement System
Wait! Before you go...
Are you looking for more information about your Defined Benefit/Pension? When you navigate to your participant website your DB information can be found in the "View Details" of MyOrangeMoney at the top of the page when you login. 
For more information about your pension and navigating to find specifics click here
Or, to continue to your participant website click here
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