Retirement Plans

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Massachusetts State Retirement System

The Massachusetts State Retirement Plan is a defined benefit program in lieu of Social Security. Membership in (SERS) is mandatory for all full time employees with benefits or those working at least half-time with benefits. New employees contribute 9% of gross salary, and 11% on salary over $30,000. These employee contributions are Federal tax-deferred. 1.45% is deducted for the Medicare portion of Social Security. State employees are eligible for a pension upon retirement at age 55 with 10 years of full-time service, or at any age with 20 years of full-time service.

Click here for more information about the State Retirement Plan.

Retirement Chart (PDF)

To estimate retirement benefits, click on the State Board of Retirement calculator: http://www.mass.gov/treasury/retirement/for-current-emps/estimate-retirement.html
To determine your classification group, please click on M.G.L. c.32: http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/32-3.htm

For further information regarding pension estimates, please call the Retirement Board at (617) 367-7770; 1-800-392-6014 (In MA Only)

Optional Retirement Program (ORP)

Professional benefitted employees have the option to contribute to an Optional Retirement Program which is administered by the Department of Higher Education. The ORP program is a defined contribution plan.

The Optional Retirement Program (ORP) is an alternative to the State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) that provides flexible and portable pension benefits for Faculty and Professional Staff at the Commonwealth's public institutions of higher education.

To be eligible for the ORP Program:

1. Participants must meet the minimum workload requirement:

The workload for eligibility is the standard "Chapter 32" definition: generally, 50% FTE. This is the same as the workload requirement for the State Employees' Retirement System (SERS).

2. Participants must not be vested in SERS (fewer than ten Years of Creditable Service).

Click here for the Comparison of Key Features between ORP and SERS:

http://www.mass.edu/foremployees/orp/choosecomparison.asp

For more information regarding the ORP program, go to:

http://www.mass.edu/foremployees/orp/orp.asp

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