Final Average Pay and BackDROP Period

MY PENSION IS BASED ON MY BEST 36 MONTHS EARNINGS. WAGES DURING MY 5 YEAR BACKDROP PERIOD ARE EXCLUDED. WHAT IF MY BEST 36 MONTHS ARE AFTER I COMPLETE MY 5 YEAR BACKDROP PERIOD?

Any pay earned after your BackDROP date (the beginning of your BackDROP period) does not count - it is excluded -  when we calculate your monthly retirement benefit. We will look at your entire pay history in your MOSERS-covered employment prior to your BackDROP period to find your highest 36 consecutive months of pay and use that to calculate your monthly benefit.

Remember, your BackDROP period, whether it is a 2-year or 5-year period, will always be immediately prior to your retirement date. That means, you wouldn’t continue to be employed in a MOSERS benefit-eligible position after your BackDROP period.

This is one of the factors to consider when making your elections about BackDROP. You can contact a MOSERS benefit counselor who can assist you in evaluating your options. You can also get benefit estimates based on different scenarios and use our Comparison Calculator to compare the long-term impact of different options. (Watch our Comparison Calculator video and our Creating a Benefit Estimate video for help getting started.)

For more information, see our recent post on Final Average Pay and on the 3-part formula we use to calculate retirement benefits.