Topic

MSB Employee Benefit: Retirement

Alaska Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)

Full Time Borough employees are automatically enrolled in the Alaska Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS).

Your retirement account is managed through Empower. (This means they provide information about your account balance, how your retirement funds are invested, and how disbursements will work when you retire.).

Image of Empower Logo, followed by the words State of Alaska Defined Contribution Plans

There are four tiers in this system, depending on when you enter the system determines your tier and coverage.

Date You Became a Covered Employee	PERS Tier	Plan Type
January 1, 1961 – June 30, 1986	Tier I	Defined Benefit Plan
After June 30, 1986 (This means if you were hired between July 1, 1986 - June 30, 1996)	Tier II	Defined Benefit Plan
After June 30, 1996 (This means if you were hired between July 1, 1996 - June 30, 2006)	Tier III	Defined Benefit Plan
After June 30, 2006 (This means if you were hired any date July 1, 2026 to current)	Tier IV	Defined Contribution Plan (The State made a change to how they fund retirement benefits, this is why the name is different than previous tiers.)

PERS Information:

• PERS Coverage Information Sheet (A quick snapshot of what the benefits are in each tier)

  • If you are in Tiers 1-3 Defined Benefit Plan and want to learn more, click here.

  • If you are in Tier 4 Defined Contribution Plan and want to learn more, click here.

• Empower Retirement Portal Login

  • Empower manages your retirement account. (This means they provide information about your account balance, how your retirement funds are invested, and how disbursements will work when you retire.).

  • Your Empower account will display two accounts. The first is your PERS retirement account, described above. The second is your State of Alaska Supplemental Benefits System (SBS) account. Learn more about your SBS account here.

Are you interested in contributing more toward your retirement?

Borough employees can sign up for a 457 Deferred Compensation Plan through MissionSquare Retirement.

More information about this option here.

Logo for MissionSquare Retirement