Most PERA members don't contribute to Social Security while they work for PERA employers. If you are eligible for both a PERA benefit and a Social Security benefit, your PERA benefit will never be reduced due to any Social Security benefit you may receive. However, your Social Security benefit may be reduced if you are receiving a PERA benefit. Click here for more information.

For any questions about a reduction in your Social Security benefit, contact the Social Security Administration at 800-772-1213 or ssa.gov.

Depending on your benefit structure (PERA or DPS), your qualified survivors or named beneficiaries may be eligible for a monthly survivor benefit. If there are no qualified survivors, a lump-sum payment of your member contribution account will be paid to your designated account beneficiary(ies) or your estate. Under the PERA benefit structure, the lump-sum payment will include a 100 percent match on your contributions and interest.

Every dollar you contribute to PERA will only ever go to fund your personal retirement benefit. You do not, however, have access to that money until you terminate PERA-covered employment. Learn more about your options when you leave employment here. Note you may have access now to any voluntary savings you have accumulated in a PERAPlus account under certain situations, including hardship withdrawals.

Both you and your employer contribute a percentage of your salary to PERA to pay for benefits and these amounts may change in the future. You may view the current member contribution rates and information about future changes to these rates here.

Your employer has up to five business days to send all contributions to PERA for processing. Then, if applicable, we forward contributions to Empower Retirement for posting to your PERA Defined Contribution (DC) Plan, PERAPlus 401(k) and/or 457 Plan account(s). Generally, contributions are posted as soon as possible after we receive them.