Multiple Plans

If you are a member of more than one Washington state retirement system, you are a dual member. You can combine service credit earned in all dual member systems to become eligible for retirement.

Changing systems or plans

Once you select or default into a plan, your plan choice is permanent. This means if you start work and select PERS Plan 2, you will be in PERS Plan 2 with every future PERS covered employer.

However, if you are in PERS Plan 2, but go to work for another system-covered employer, such as SERS or TRS, you can choose either Plan 2 or Plan 3 for this system. For example, you could have a retirement plan in PERS Plan 2 as well as SERS Plan 3.

If you were hired before Plan 3 became a plan, you have the option each January to make a permanent transfer from Plan 2 to Plan 3. This is the only condition where a plan transfer is allowed. See more about the transfer option.

Getting ready to retire: If you are a member of more than one plan, you cannot apply for retirement through your online account. You must contact DRS to request an official benefit estimate and retirement application.

Which employers participate in DRS-covered retirement plans?

See page 224 of this report for a complete list of DRS plan employers.

The following public plans are all eligible for combined service credit in Washington state.

Systems and Plans

SystemPlan
PERSPublic Employees Retirement SystemPlan 1, 2 or 3
TRSTeachers Retirement SystemPlan 1, 2 or 3
SERSSchool Employees Retirement SystemPlan 2 or 3
LEOFFLaw Enforcement Officers & Fire FightersPlan 2
WSPRSWashington State Patrol Retirement SystemPlan 1 or 2
PSERSPublic Safety Employees Retirement SystemPlan 2
City plansFirst-class city retirement systems for Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma*n/a

*First-class city retirement systems are not administered by DRS but are eligible for combined service credit.

Note: Customers are no longer eligible to enroll in Plan 1 for any of the systems.

When can I retire?

To see if you are eligible to retire, add up the service credit you earned in each of your member systems. If that combined service makes you eligible to retire from one of your plans, you can choose to retire from all of them.

Your total benefit cannot exceed the amount you would have received if all your service had been in a single system.

Early retirement rules still apply to dual members.

Deferral

If you would like to defer one retirement benefit while still receiving another, you will need to contact DRS to complete a deferral form.

Retirement eligibility

Select the system you are currently in to see the requirements.

How is my benefit calculated?

If you are in multiple plans, you will receive a separate monthly benefit from each of your systems. Each system calculates the payment amount in its own way. But they are all composed of three factors:

  • Service credit years (SCY)
  • Multiplier (usually 1% or 2%)
  • Highest average monthly earnings (Average Final Compensation, AFC)

In most cases, your monthly benefit will be based on the highest base salary you earned, regardless of which system you earned it in.

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