Updated October 21, 2026. Quick answer: The COLA is the annual cost-of-living adjustment that PERS of Mississippi pays to retirees and beneficiaries who have been receiving benefit payments for at least one full fiscal year. The handbook ties the amount to your retirement tier and lets you choose between monthly installments and one annual payment. Check the handbook and your own member account for your tier and your election.
What this section covers
The PERS of Mississippi Member Handbook describes the adjustment in its benefits overview, in the Cost-of-Living Adjustment Estimate Calculator pages, and again under payments after retirement. It opens with “Designed to help offset the effects of inflation,” and then states the formula. Mississippi PERS retirement decisions covers the other choices a PERS member faces at retirement; this page follows only the COLA.
Who it applies to
The handbook’s eligibility sentence is “Retirees and beneficiaries who have been receiving benefit payments for at least one full fiscal year are eligible to receive an annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA).” The formula depends on your tier, and the handbook points you to “See page 25 to determine Retirement Tier”.
The formula’s age break is given separately for “Retirement Tiers 1 through 3” and for “Retirement Tier 4”.
The statute also draws a line by membership date. Miss. Code 25-11-112(1), as amended by H.B. 1 (2025), gives the additional benefit to “Any member who became a member of the system before March 1, 2026”, and counts the fiscal years before age fifty-five for members before July 1, 2011 and before age sixty for members on or after July 1, 2011 but before March 1, 2026. Whether any cost-of-living adjustment applies to a member who joined on or after March 1, 2026 is not answered by that subsection, so ask PERS.
The rules, one by one
| Rule | What the handbook says |
|---|---|
| Who is eligible | “Retirees and beneficiaries who have been receiving benefit payments for at least one full fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) are eligible to receive an annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA).” |
| How it is figured | “the COLA is equal to 3 percent of your annual base benefit for each full fiscal year of retirement prior to the year in which you reach age 55 (Retirement Tiers 1 through 3) or 60 (Retirement Tier 4), plus 3 percent compounded for each fiscal year thereafter, beginning with the fiscal year in which you turn age 55 (Retirement Tiers 1 through 3) or 60 (Retirement Tier 4).” |
| Retiring effective July 1 | “If you retire effective July 1, you would be eligible for the COLA during the fiscal year beginning 12 months later on July 1.” |
| Retiring effective August 1 | “If you retire effective August 1, you would be eligible for the COLA during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 23 months after the effective date of retirement.” |
| Monthly election | “You may irrevocably elect to receive your COLA in 12 equal monthly installments.” |
| If you make no election | “If you do not make that election, your COLA will be paid annually in one lump sum payment on or about December 15.” |
| Where the election is made | “You may elect on your Form 9P, Payroll Authorization, to receive your COLA payment monthly.” |
| A reemployed retiree | “is calculated taking into consideration all full fiscal years in retirement” and it “is payable immediately upon the next retirement.” |
| After a lump sum recipient dies | “A prorated portion of the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) will be paid to the beneficiary of any benefit recipient who receives the COLA in a lump sum where death occurs between July 1 and December 1 and monthly benefit payments have terminated to all eligible beneficiaries.” |
For a retiree who goes back to work, the handbook adds “You will receive a prorated COLA amount monthly if your re-retirement date is later than July 1.” The re-employment rules themselves are on Mississippi PERS returning to work.
The figures the handbook prints
Each figure here sits inside one running sentence. The formula sentence is “the COLA is equal to 3 percent of your annual base benefit for each full fiscal year of retirement prior to the year in which you reach age 55 (Retirement Tiers 1 through 3) or 60 (Retirement Tier 4), plus 3 percent compounded for each fiscal year thereafter, beginning with the fiscal year in which you turn age 55 (Retirement Tiers 1 through 3) or 60 (Retirement Tier 4).” The payment-date sentence is “If you do not make that election, your COLA will be paid annually in one lump sum payment on or about December 15.” The calculator pages also say “The Example Figures shown on page 29 illustrate how this formula works for a member who retired at age 52, has been retired for 16 full fiscal years, and is receiving a gross monthly base benefit of $750 under each Retirement Tier.” The results of that example sit in a grid on page 29 and are not reproduced here.
What to do and where to look
The handbook says “Use the table on page 29 to calculate your current estimated fiscal year COLA based on your estimated monthly base benefit.” For the rates it says “See Appendix G for simple and compounded COLA interest rates for years in retirement.” To receive the COLA monthly, the election is made on Form 9P, as the table above quotes.
Your benefit option is a separate choice from the COLA election; the option comparison is on single life vs joint and survivor pension and survivor benefits with a government pension. Tax treatment of the payments is covered on whether Mississippi taxes pensions.
Edition
This page reads PERS of Mississippi, Member Handbook, the current file PERS of Mississippi served on October 21, 2026. Check the edition and your own tier or plan on your own member account; the handbook’s text controls over this summary.
Common mistakes
- Expecting the COLA right after retirement. The handbook says “If you retire effective August 1, you would be eligible for the COLA during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 23 months after the effective date of retirement.”
- Treating the monthly election as one you can change later. The handbook says “You may irrevocably elect to receive your COLA in 12 equal monthly installments.”
- Assuming a retiree who returns to work restarts the count. The handbook says the COLA “is calculated taking into consideration all full fiscal years in retirement”.
Related: Mississippi PERS retirement decisions, single life vs joint and survivor pension, survivor benefits with a government pension, and whether Mississippi taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- PERS of Mississippi, Member Handbook: www.pers.ms.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): PERS of Mississippi home page: www.pers.ms.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): PERS of Mississippi, Retiree Handbook: www.pers.ms.gov
Read from the pension system handbooks linked above on October 21, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a pension system or a qualified professional is the right place to confirm anything consequential.