Your future benefits are funded by contributions — made by you, your employer and the State during your period of membership — and the investment earnings from those contributions. Contributions are held in trust and invested by the Washington State Investment Board.
LEOFF Plan 2 is a defined benefit plan. This means that at retirement you will receive a benefit based on your service credit and final average salary. The amount you have contributed will not be a factor in calculating your retirement benefit.
You are required to contribute a percentage of your “basic salary” to DRS. “Basic salary” means salaries or wages earned during a payroll period for personal services. This includes overtime and tax-deferred wages, if any. This does not include lump sum payments for unused sick leave, unused vacation or annual leave, or any form of severance pay.
Pay for service in a state elective position may count as basic salary. Please contact DRS if you are elected or appointed to the Legislature or other state elective office.
Your contribution is deducted from your paycheck each pay period and forwarded to DRS. Some employers opt to deduct your contributions before calculating federal income taxes. This defers payment of the taxes until you or your beneficiary receives the money as either a benefit or a refund.
Your “accumulated contributions” are the contributions you make to LEOFF plus the interest added to your account by DRS.
The member contribution rate is changed as necessary to reflect the costs of the plan.
The plan is designed to provide retirement income, therefore you may not borrow from or against your contributions. See Taxation and assignment of benefits for more information.