Base Plan

Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho or PERSI is the state retirement system and is mandatory for all full-time employees. A full-time employee as defined for PERSI retirement purposes is an employee who is scheduled to work 20 hours or more per week for five or more consecutive months.

Because the PERSI Base Plan is a defined benefit plan, the lifetime allowance you receive at retirement from this plan is not dependent on the amount of money you contribute to PERSI. The Base Plan is a qualified tax-deferred plan under IRS Code Section 401(a).

PERSI is designed to provide pension benefits to career public employees. The longer you work for PERSI employers, the greater your retirement benefit will be. And although you may not plan on being a public employee your whole career, if you belong to PERSI as little as five years you will receive a lifetime benefit at retirement. And those five years need not be all at once or with one employer.

The value of your Base Plan benefit is not merely the amount of contributions in your account – the value is actually far greater. Here's how:

• When you retire, the PERSI Base Plan will pay you every month for as long as you live, and if you choose a Contingent Annuitant at retirement, after you die that person will continue receiving a benefit for the rest of his or her life.
• You "make back" every dollar you put into the PERSI Base Plan within about your first three and a half years of retirement. For instance, say you put $60,000 into PERSI during your career. If your monthly benefit is $1,500, you will receive your $60,000 back in just over three years. But, we will continue paying you that $1,500 (plus yearly Cost of Living Adjustments – COLAs) every month for the rest of your life. If you are retired for another 30 years, you will receive another $540,000 from PERSI (plus COLAs – so the value will really be much higher.). It would be extremely difficult to find another investment with such a secure, long-term return.

An additional benefit with PERSI retirement is the ability to use your accrued *sick leave to purchase health, dental and life insurance in retirement. PERSI sick leave entitlement formula: (Days of unused sick leave ÷2) x (Daily rate of pay at time of retirement)

PERSI Choice 401(k)

The Choice 401(k) Plan is your voluntary PERSI account. It contains contributions you make, any rollovers you request from other plans as well as earnings from those funds. Your Choice 401(K) Plan is a Defined Contribution plan, meaning the amount you receive at retirement is based on the contributions and earnings in the plan. Your Choice 401(k) Plan creates a more secure retirement.

You may start a payroll deduction for a Choice 401(k) account at any time. You may also change deduction amounts at any time. To begin contributions, complete the Enrollment Form and return it to payroll.