Announcements
Meet With a VRS Counselor
If you have questions about retirement options, applying for retirement or your VRS benefits, VRS counselors have answers. Here’s how to schedule a virtual appointment:
- Visit the VRS Education and Counseling page.
- Select your plan under One-on-One Counseling Appointments.
- Choose your region and preferred date and time.
- Once registered, look out for a confirmation email. You will receive another email with a Microsoft Teams meeting link before your virtual appointment begins.
To maximize your appointment time, log in to myVRS to view your latest account information and have your questions ready.
Live and Recorded Webinars Help You Plan
Register for an upcoming session based on your VRS plan and interests by visiting the Education and Counseling page. Don’t see a time that works for you? No worries – you’re welcome to register anyway to view recordings of past sessions.
Plan 1 and Plan 2 Members: Consider adding these upcoming sessions to your calendar:
- VRS Overview | Wednesday, November 15, 1-2 p.m.
Review your VRS member benefits, vesting and retirement eligibility, as well as ways to enhance your retirement benefit. - Hazardous Duty – Political Subdivisions | Wednesday, November 29, 10-11 a.m.
Learn eligibility requirements for enhanced hazardous duty benefits and review other benefits, such as disability retirement and the purchase of prior service credit. - Your Next Steps | December 14, 1-2 p.m.
For those with fewer than 12 months before retirement, this session will walk you through the retirement application process. Topics include important action items, retiring online through myVRS, as well as post-retirement considerations and VRS resources.
Watch: VRS Reports 6.1% Return for Fiscal Year 2023
VRS reported a 6.1% return, net of fees, on its investment portfolio for fiscal year 2023, ending the year with approximately $105 billion.
VRS Earns High Marks in Peer Comparison
VRS remains in the high-service, low-cost category compared to its peers, according to an annual study from CEM Benchmarking, which compares retirement systems in the United States and around the world.
- VRS’ total service score of 83 was above the peer median of 78.
- VRS’ total pension administration cost is $74 per member, compared to a peer average of $113.
CEM measures service quality from a member’s perspective. For example, a pension fund that offers more communications channels for its members generally is perceived to resolve issues more quickly.
Recent improvements to VRS member education, such as a shift to online webinars and one-on-one counseling, had a positive impact on the score.
VRS participates in the benchmarking comparison each year to identify opportunities to further improve service and reduce costs.
Save Time With myVRS Self-Service Options
You may already know that by logging in to myVRS, you can easily review and maintain your account information or skip the paper forms by retiring online. Here are some additional self-service tools in the online platform that can help you expedite important tasks:
- Beneficiary management. Easily update beneficiaries for your VRS defined benefit member account and group life insurance benefits. For defined contribution accounts, continue to update beneficiaries directly through your plan’s Account Access.
- Optional Group Life Insurance maintenance. If you are eligible, you may use myVRS to purchase additional coverage or choose coverage for your loved ones. Navigate to Life Insurance under the My History tab and select the Visit Securian button to get started.
- Accessing survivor benefits. If you receive survivor benefits based on another member’s account, you can view your benefit details in myVRS.
