A UC Berkeley study found that Wisconsin retirees with pension income are less likely to experience economic hardships, with public pensions significantly narrowing the racial, gender, and education wealth gap among older families compared to private pensions.
A recent report by The Pew Charitable Trusts identified key WRS practices that make the Badger State one of the “well-funded states with tools to manage risk,” highlighting how other states could learn from the Wisconsin experience.
This brochure describes the types of service you may be eligible to buy, the benefits and restrictions on the purchases, and how and when you can buy service.
WRS retirement benefits are calculated using two methods: the formula method, and the money purchase method. ETF calculates your benefit using both methods and automatically pays you the higher amount. See how each method is calculated and resources for estimating your benefit.
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When you make voluntary regular (after-tax) additional contributions to your WRS account, you must use this worksheet to calculate the maximum amount of voluntary contributions that you can make to the WRS.
Under certain circumstances, reciprocity may increase the retirement benefits payable to you if you worked for one or more participating public retirement systems.
A 3 video series describing the process of applying for WRS retirement benefits. It includes how to request a retirement estimates and application, make a retirement appointment with ETF, and filling out and submitting your application.
