Chapters

00:00 Introduction to PERS Form 9A SRVC

00:29 Understanding Form 9A SRVC

01:27 Navigating to Form 9A SRVC on PERS Website

01:53 Completing Section 1 of PERS From 9A SRVC

02:47 Completing Section 2 of PERS From 9A SRVC

03:38 Completing Section 3 of PERS From 9A SRVC

04:16 Completing Section 4 of PERS From 9A SRVC

05:04 Submitting Form 9A

05:34 Notes About Section 5 of PERS Form 9A SRVC

06:28 What to Expect After Submitting PERS Form 9A SRVC

07:48 Action Items for Completing Form 9A SRVC

08:24 Preview of Next Video and Calls to Action

09:30 Legal Disclaimer

Transcript

Hi everyone, I'm Ryan Earley, vested PERS member, former public school officer, current financial planner, and host of the PERS Pro YouTube channel. Today, we are walking through every section of Form 9A SRVC, Pre-Application for Service Retirement Benefits, which is the first step to starting your PERS retirement. Let's get started.

Before we walk through how to complete the form, let's talk about what this form actually does.  Form 9A SRVC is used to officially notify PERS of your intent to retire. This form allows PERS to verify your service credit, calculate your benefit estimates, and send you the final forms needed for the actual application for service retirement benefits. 

You should ideally submit this form no later than 90 days before your planned retirement date. Be aware that you can submit this form less than 90 days before your retirement, but it must be submitted prior to your desired effective date of retirement.  The closer to your effective date of retirement, Form 9A is submitted, the more likely there will be a delay between your effective date of retirement and when you receive your first PERS retirement check. 

Note, if you haven't yet decided when to retire, I recommend watching our previous five-part series on this topic, beginning with video 25 and ending with video 29.

Form 9A can be accessed online at pers.ms.gov.  From the home page, you can click on Forms at the top and then scroll down the right-hand side of the page under Service Retirement Applicants and click on the blue hyperlink that says Form 9A SRVC Pre-Application for Service Retirement Benefits. This will open a fillable PDF. Once you have it open, sections one through four will be completed by you. 

Section one is straightforward but critical.  You must provide your full legal name, gender, social security number, make sure there are no typos as this is how PERS tracks and identifies its members and their work and earnings history, date of birth, be sure to attach a copy of your birth certificate if your employer doesn't already have one on file, email, PERS e-updates will be sent to this email address and include legislative changes, retirement plan changes, and leadership updates.  Mailing address, make sure this is current as PERS will mail you your retirement application package to this address, mobile phone number, last day of employment, if you are not actively working then this will be the last day you worked for a PERS agency, whether you served active duty in U.S. Armed Forces, make sure to attach form DD214 if you select yes. 

Section two is also very straightforward for most. You simply select which retirement plan you are a part of. Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi, or PERS for short, provides retirement benefits to all eligible state of Mississippi public employees, public education employees, other public employees whose employers have elected to participate, elected members of the state legislature, and president of the Senate. Supplemental Legislative Retirement Plan, or SLRP for short, provides supplemental retirement benefits to all elected members of the state legislature and president of the Senate. These members are part of both PERS and SLRP and should check both boxes. Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol retirement system, or MHSPRS for short, provides retirement benefits to all sworn officers of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol. 

In section three, you will list potential beneficiaries, including their names, social security numbers, date of birth, and relationship to you. Note, listing someone here doesn't lock you into a final choice, but it does allow PERS to provide accurate estimates for joint and survivor options like options 2, 3, 4, and 4A.  If you are thinking about selecting option three, make sure to list a secondary beneficiary. Before writing down names here, if you haven't already, I highly recommend going back and watching video number 48, who should a Mississippi PERS retiree designate as their beneficiary? 

In section four, you are certifying that the information provided is correct. You understand that your effective date of retirement will be no earlier than the first of the month following your termination date with your current or last employer.  You also are certifying that you understand this pre-application for retirement will become null and void if you do not return all the retirement package documents to PERS within 90 days of your effective date of retirement. In addition to signing this section, make sure you also put the date you signed the form. 

Note, if someone other than the applicant themselves signs the authorization, then they need to make sure to attach a copy of the legal documents as proof of authority to sign Form 9A on their behalf.  This is the last section of Form 9A SRVC the member will complete. 

Once you've filled out Sections 1-4, now what happens? If you are currently working for a PERS agency, give the form to your benefits coordinator that handles PERS retirement paperwork. It is their responsibility to complete Section 5 and then submit the completed form to PERS. However, you still should follow up with them to ensure it was sent. If you are not currently working for a PERS agency, then you will need to mail the form directly to the PERS office in Jackson or fax it to the number listed on the bottom of the form. 

Let's talk about Section 5 real quick for active PERS members. Your employer will certify your position, hire date, termination date, status, contract months, projected unreported gross earnings through your retirement date, projected gross unreported leave payment at your retirement date, and projected unreported unused and uncompensated leave at retirement.  

In order to project your leave payment and unused leave, they will have to consult you about how many days or hours you want to be compensated for unused leave at retirement, versus how many days hours you want to certify to PERS to potentially increase your service credit. There is a limit of 30 days or 240 hours that an employer can compensate you for unused leave. For a deep dive on whether to certify leave for service credit or take the payout, watch upcoming video number 57, which will cover the financial trade-offs of this decision. 

Once the form has been submitted to PERS, what happens next? PERS will note the date the completed form is received. This is especially important for those retirees scrambling to retire at the last minute. As mentioned earlier in this video, your effective date of retirement cannot be before PERS receives this form. PERS will process form 9A and a benefit analyst will audit your account to determine your eligibility to retire based on age or service credit. If the benefit analyst has any questions about your application or situation, they will reach out to you. If you are deemed eligible to retire, then PERS will mail you up to four more forms in a retirement package. Form 9S, service retirement application. Form 9P, payroll authorization, audited final estimate of benefits, and if eligible, form PLSO, partial lump sum option distribution election. 

All of these forms in the retirement package must be completed, signed, and returned to PERS within 90 days following the effective date of your retirement. This means you could submit your 9A in early May, have an effective date of retirement, May 31st, and turn in form 9S and 9P in June, July, or most of August.  Just be aware that timing of your first retirement check will be delayed sometime after your effective date of retirement.

If you are completing Form 9A SRVC, here are your action items for today. 1. Download the form. Go to PERS website and download Form 9A SRVC. Make sure you select 9A SRVC and not 9A SRVR. One is for service and the other is for survivor benefits. 2. Verify your beneficiary info. Gather the Social Security numbers and birthdates for anyone you plan to list in Section 3. 3. Coordinate with HR.  If you are an active PERS member, schedule a meeting with your benefits coordinator to ensure Section 5 is handled correctly and promptly. 

I hope this video helps PERS members better understand how to kickstart their retirement process. In our next video, we'll explore should you certify unused leave or take the payout. Please make sure you subscribe so you don't miss this and other videos in our new retirement series. If you found this video helpful, you can thank me by hitting the thumbs up button and sharing it with other PERS members.

If you have a follow-up question about PERS or anything else related to personal finance, please visit our website at perspro.ms, click YouTube, and submit your question or topic for a future episode. And finally, if you are looking for a financial planner that specializes in helping PERS members plan for retirement, including completing Form 9A, please visit our website at perspro.ms to learn more about our firm and to schedule your initial consultation. 

Thank you for your valuable public service to the state of Mississippi. We'll see you next time.

Disclaimer, this video is for educational and informational purposes only. Neither the host nor this YouTube channel are officially affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi. Always consult a qualified professional for personal advice specific to your situation.