How to Read My Statement of Benefits - Active Employee

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Summary

A sample form of the statement of benefits for an Active Employee.

Navigate the Form

A sample form of the Statement of Benefits is divided into parts with details to help you understand the information. Click on a section to navigate to or scroll down to each section. After you finish a section, click on "Back to Top" to navigate to a new section. Follow along on your own Statement of Benefits. If you do not have your own to look at, download the sample above.

Name & Address and IRS Codes

Name & Address: Make sure that you receive important information about your WRS account by keeping your contact information up to date. See the Change My Address page for steps to change information.
IRS Codes: The WRS falls under Internal Revenue Codes 401(a) and 403(b). The WRS is a defined benefit pension plan; it is neither a 401(k) nor a 457(b), which is a deferred compensation plan. See the WRS Retirement Benefit page for more information.

Section 1 and Section 2

Section 1 – Earnings and Service: Your employer reports your pay and service to ETF each year.
Section 2 – Creditable Service: This section shows your total years of creditable service broken down into three types: "Before 2000," "After 1999" and "After Act 10." This includes military service, if applicable. You may have service in one, two or all three types, depending on when and how long you have worked under the WRS. See the WRS Retirement Benefit page for more information.

Section 3 and Investment in Contract

Section 3 – Employee-Required Contributions: This section shows the cumulative employee-required contributions in your account and does not include the matching employer contributions (see Section 9 on Page 2 for your total account balance). Your interest rate is shown in this section.
Non-taxable portion of employee contributions (Investment in Contract): Most contributions are made on a "pre-tax" basis and are not taxed until you terminate all WRS employment and receive a WRS benefit. However, some types of employee contributions can be made on an "after-tax" basis and are not taxed again. The non-taxable portion of your account is referred to as your "Investment in Contract."

Section 4 and Section 5

Section 4 – Additional Contributions: This section shows the balance of additional contributions that you and/or your employer have made to your account. Additional contributions always receive the effective rate of interest. You cannot withdraw contributions until you leave all WRS employment. See the Additional Contributions page for more information.
If you received a Long-Term Disability Insurance (LTDI) benefit, your LTDI supplemental contributions are included as Core Employer Additional Contributions.
Non-taxable portion of employee contributions (Investment in Contract): Currently, additional contributions are made post-tax, though some employees did make pre-tax additional contributions in the past. Post-tax employee additional contributions are reflected as the Investment in Contract amount.
Section 5 – Primary Beneficiary Designation(s): This section shows who receives a death benefit if you die before you begin your retirement benefit. Your statement only shows your PRIMARY beneficiary designation(s) added after 1988. Secondary and tertiary beneficiaries are not listed, but are on file with ETF. If you do not have one on file or you turned one in before 1988, you will see a message just like the one in the example. Changes in your personal situation like marriage, divorce or termination of a domestic partnership do not change your beneficiary designation. You must file a new designation form to change your beneficiary. See the Designating a Beneficiary page for more information.

Section 6 and Section 7

Section 6 – Separation Benefit: This section shows the amount available if you choose to receive a separation benefit. A separation benefit includes your employee contributions, additional contributions you made, and your earned interest. It does not include employer contributions. If you choose this option, you will lose the employer contributions and service when you take a payout. See the Leaving WRS Employment page for more information.
Section 7 – Death Benefit: The amount shown is the minimum death benefit payable to your beneficiary(ies). It will be paid if you die before you apply for your WRS benefit. Once you are receiving payments from your WRS account, these estimated death benefits are no longer valid. Instead, your death benefit, if any, is based on the payment option that you selected. See the Death Benefits page for more information.
Active: This benefit will be paid if you die while employed in a WRS-covered position. A higher formula death benefit may be payable if you are an active WRS employee and are minimum retirement age prior to your death. An active employee’s beneficiary(ies) is entitled to this benefit regardless of vesting requirements.
Inactive: The benefit will be paid if you no longer work in a WRS-covered position and have not yet received a WRS benefit when you die.

Section 8 and Section 9

Section 8 – Formula Benefit Data: This section shows the data ETF uses to calculate your formula retirement benefit. See the WRS Retirement Benefit Calculations page for more information.
Your three highest years of WRS earnings. The years do not need to be back-to-back nor your three most recent years.
Your final average monthly earnings (FAE). Your FAE is calculated by adding the total earnings in your three highest years, dividing the total by the total service credited for those three years, then dividing the result by 12.
If you participate in the Variable Trust Fund, you'll see a Variable excess or deficiency amount listed. This represents how much "more or less" is in your account because of your Variable participation when compared to your account value if you never participated in the Variable Fund. See the Variable Fund page for more information.
Section 9 – Money Purchase Balance: Your money purchase balance is the total value of both the employee-required contributions balance and the matching employer contributions in your account plus accumulated interest.

Section 10

Section 10 – Retirement Benefit Projections: This section shows estimates for your retirement benefit under both the money purchase and formula methods. These are not official estimates; they are for your general information only. For more information about projecting your retirement benefit, See the WRS Retirement Benefit Calculations page.

If you are older than normal retirement age for your employment category, the amounts are calculated based on your age as of January 1.
Please note, your statement does not include any account receivable amount due if you have an outstanding balance pending. Any monies owed on your account will be deducted from your WRS annuity, if not paid in full, before you apply for benefits.