As life expectancy increases, the possibility that some Americans may face a physical or mental decline at some point in their lives is very real. Care can require considerable resources – physical, mental and financial. Now is the best time to create a plan that considers how you and your family will handle the potential…
Category Archives: Member
DRS annuity options
What’s an annuity? An annuity is a guaranteed income plan you purchase with pre-tax money such as DCP. The money you receive from your annuity is in addition to the money that you receive from your pension. With annuities, you take money out of market risk and use it to give yourself a monthly lifetime…
Hey millennials, plan for your future with 3 easy steps
Millennials are defined by Pew Research as being born between 1981 and 1996 and are now ages 28 to 43. That means most are somewhere in the middle of their career. If that sounds like you, here are some things you can do now to ensure a successful retirement. 1. Understand your retirement plan benefits…
Employers make pension contributions too
As a Plan 2 member of a Washington state retirement plan, you contribute a certain percentage amount from your paycheck toward your pension. That percentage amount is called a member contribution rate and is set each biennium. If you’re a Plan 3 member, you contribute a certain percentage amount to your investment account. But did…
Choosing a plan
90 days to choose Plan 2 or 3
Most DCP and Plan 3 investment costs reduced in 2024
Every summer, we post annual fee changes for DCP and Plan 3 investments. Fees are based on the cost to manage the investments and vary by fund type. The revised fee tables are available now on the DCP and Plan 3 pages. DRS investment options are provided by WSIB (Washington State Investment Board). At just a fraction of a…
Retirement guide for new hires
Did you know that you started earning a pension benefit when you were hired into public service in Washington state? If you didn’t know until just now, we understand. A new job can be overwhelming – loads of information is served up to you all at once. You may have overlooked, or not had time…
Site changes
On Monday, June 10, we updated DRS’ website to highlight our calculators and to make it easier for folks to find what they’re looking for. When you visit www.drs.wa.gov now, you’ll see a new calculator page, new site index that includes alphabetic sorting, changes to our search tool, updated table of contents navigation, and some other behind-the-scenes code changes to…
DCP Roth and Roth IRA – What’s the difference?
Washington’s Deferred Compensation Program (DCP) offers a Roth option in addition to the traditional pretax option many customers contribute to. Here we’ll take a look at questions you’ve asked about the newer Roth option, especially in comparison to a Roth IRA. While DCP is available only through employers, an IRA, or Individual Retirement Account, is…
Your DCP contribution changes can happen sooner
In May, you might notice that the timing for your Deferred Compensation Program (DCP) contribution changes are happening sooner. SECURE Act 2.0 of 2022, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2023, builds on and expands the SECURE Act of 2019 to improve retirement savings opportunities. Before this option was added, contribution updates took…
