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…
Category Archives: Member
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…
PERS 1, TRS 1 one-time benefit increase in July
Certain retirees in Plan 1 of the Public Employees’ Retirement System and Plan 1 of the Teachers’ Retirement System (PERS 1 and TRS 1) will receive a one-time benefit increase in July of this year. This is the result of legislation approved in 2023. Under the law, eligible PERS 1 and TRS 1 retirees will…
Notice to Retirees – Public Records Request
The Department of Retirement Systems has received a public records request from Erin Raasch of American Transparency for the following information about members who received monthly payments in 2023: • Full Name• Retirement Date• Employer Name• Monthly Pension Amount Per Washington’s Public Records Act, these records are not exempt from disclosure, so DRS must share this information with the…
Help us serve you better
Do you have ideas for making our communications clearer? We are looking to build a bank of members and retirees to participate in upcoming focus groups designed to improve our systems and how we communicate with you. What will we ask you to do? We may ask you to review benefit information – such as…
