A cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is an annual adjustment applied to your retirement income to reflect changes in the economy (inflation). Most DRS retirement plans offer a COLA, but Plan 1 members in PERS and TRS only have a COLA if they selected it during retirement. View the 2026 COLA percentages by retirement date and plan.…
Category Archives: Member
Retirement checkups offer peace of mind
It’s not uncommon for people to worry about retirement. It might seem intimidating to think about no longer working, let alone how to make ends meet. Can you live comfortably in retirement? If you don’t know the answer, there’s an easy way to check. You can log in to your online account and use the…
Update to DCP catch-up options for high income earners
There’s a new IRS rule that may affect how high income earners can contribute to their Washington Deferred Compensation Program (DCP) account. Who is affected? The way you contribute to DCP may be affected if you meet all of the following requirements: *You can find your total FICA wages in Box 3 on your 2025 Form W-2.…
School employees and teachers: when is the best time to retire?
Is it better to retire at the beginning of summer or at the end? When it comes to retirement for teachers and school employees, a few months can have a big impact. Before deciding on the month you want to retire, you need to understand how Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) and the Public Employees Benefits Board…
DCP emergency withdrawals: what to know
If you have a Washington state Deferred Compensation Program (DCP) account and experience an unforeseeable emergency, you may be able to withdraw funds while still working. These withdrawals are allowed only in specific hardship situations and are processed by the DRS record keeper, Voya Financial. You may use DCP funds for an emergency only if…
Accessing your 2025 1099-R form
Looking for your 1099-R form for tax purposes? You can access it by signing in to your retirement account and then selecting the 1099-R link from the main menu. From there you can view or print a copy. Hard copies of the form will be mailed by the end of January. For Plan 3 and DCP customers,…
Sign up for pension-related legislative alerts
If you’re interested in pension-related legislation, sign up below to receive an email alert when we update our Pension-Related Legislation page. We expect to send updates weekly, but we may send more or less frequently depending on how bills move through the legislative process. As part of this list, you might also receive a few messages throughout…
Public Records Request – The Seattle Times
The Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) has received a public records request from the Seattle Times for certain information about members of the state’s retirement systems, including retirees and non-retirees, for a one-year time period. The Seattle Times has been making this request annually for the past several years, and DRS provides this information to…
Plan 3 transfer window open soon
The annual Plan 3 transfer window will be open in January for some members of PERS, SERS and TRS Plan 2 to make a permanent move to Plan 3. Members with these plans and hire dates may be eligible to transfer to Plan 3: If this applies to you, and you would like to transfer…
Release date for 2026 COLA amounts
The 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) percentages effective July 1 for most plans have not been released. DRS will update the COLA information page when the information becomes available (usually sometime in March). You can review the current 2025 COLA adjustments on the COLA information page.
