How to Select your Plan Selecting your OPERS retirement plan

When choosing your plan, you may want to consider how long you plan to spend in public employment.

Each plan has different service credit (or contributing months) requirements in order for you to earn benefits. For example, you need 20 years of service credit in the Traditional Pension plan to get access to OPERS health care coverage.

The plans also have different age and service credit requirements that determine both how much of a retirement benefit you will receive, and the age at which you can retire. For example, the only requirement to be eligible to retire in the Member-Directed plan is to be 55 years of age or older.

Ohio's State Teachers Retirement System, School Employees Retirement System

If you have service with Ohio's State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) or School Employees Retirement System (SERS), the Traditional Pension Plan is the only plan that allows you to combine non-concurrent service credit in order to receive a larger retirement benefit or to retire earlier. Non-concurrent service refers to time that you contributed to only one system.

Service credit earned with SERS or STRS cannot be combined with contributing months in the Member-Directed Plan.

Ohio Police & Fire

If you have service with the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund (OP&F), Highway Patrol Retirement System (HPRS) or the Cincinnati Retirement System (CRS) that you would like to transfer to OPERS, the service may be transferred only to the Traditional Pension within 90 days of your retirement effective date (see Purchased service credit under the Traditional Pension only in the Benefits of Membership Handbook).

However, the service impacts benefit calculations differently in the Traditional Pension Plan. If you are eligible to receive a retirement or disability benefit from another Ohio retirement system, you have an important consideration to make when selecting your OPERS retirement plan.

If you are already receiving a benefit from another Ohio retirement system

If you are working in an OPERS-covered position and receiving a retirement or disability benefit from another Ohio retirement system, state law requires you to contribute to the OPERS Money Purchase Plan.

Therefore, if you select the Member-Directed Plan and later begin receiving a benefit from another Ohio retirement system and contributing to the OPERS Money Purchase Plan, you will have two separate plans with OPERS and your service credit cannot be aggregated between the plans to determine your benefits.

It's important to remember that the Member-Directed Plan have a monthly administrative fee of $6 charged to all accounts, regardless of balance.

This may affect your account balance if you choose the Member-Directed Plan and you work only part of a year and are not contributing consistently to OPERS.

Members who work in an OPERS-covered law enforcement or public safety position must contribute to the Traditional Pension Plan.

If you are currently in a non-law position, but later begin working in an OPERS-covered law enforcement or public safety position, state law requires you to start contributing to the Traditional Pension Plan. The same is true for a member who is currently in the police academy – as soon as you graduate and begin working in an OPERS-covered law enforcement position, you must begin contributing to the Traditional Pension Plan.

Therefore, if you select the Member-Directed Plan and then later begin working in a law enforcement or public safety position and begin contributing to the Traditional Pension Plan, you will have two separate plans and your service cannot be aggregated between the plans to determine your benefits.