Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: Employees who become Mississippi PERS members on or after March 1, 2026 join the Hybrid Retirement Plan (Tier 5). They are vested after eight years of membership service and can retire after 30 years of creditable service at any age, or at age 62 and vested. A member who reaches 62 with fewer than 30 years of service faces an actuarial reduction for each year of service below 30 or each year of age below 65, whichever is less. Earlier tiers have other rules, which PERS prints in a table and this page does not restate.
Who is in Tier 5
“Employees who become members of PERS on or after March 1, 2026, shall participate in the Hybrid Retirement Plan, which consists of two components: a defined benefit plan and a defined contribution plan.”
When a Tier 5 member can retire
“PERS Hybrid Plan members are eligible to retire upon termination from all PERS-covered employment after 30 years of creditable service at any age or age 62 and vested.” The fact sheet says: “Members are eligible to receive a retirement benefit after 30 years of service credit at any age or after reaching age 62 with 8 years of membership service credit.”
Vesting
“Hybrid Retirement Plan members become vested upon completion of at least eight years of membership service.”
The reduction
“Benefits will be reduced for each year of creditable service below 30 years or each year in age below age 65, whichever is less.”
What the pension is based on
Tier 5 formula: “The formula for calculating service retirement benefits is 1 percent of your average compensation multiplied by creditable service years.” Average compensation: “Average compensation is calculated using your four highest years of salary and payment of up to 240 hours of leave.” For comparison, the handbook for earlier members says: “The formula for calculating service retirement benefits is 2 percent of your average compensation multiplied by creditable service years up to 25 or 30 (based on your Retirement Tier).” “Each year in covered service beyond 25 or 30 (based on your Retirement Tier) increases your Service Credit Factor by 2.5 percent.”
A worked example with invented numbers
Take an invented Tier 5 member who retires with 30 years of creditable service. That is 30 years at 1%, or 30% (computed) of a final average salary of $60,000 (invented, for the computation), which comes to $18,000 a year (computed).
What the documents do not say
PERS prints the eligibility rules for Tiers 1 to 4 only in handbook tables, so they are not stated here as rules, and the member handbook for earlier tiers was revised November 8, 2024, before Tier 5 existed. The reduction is described as actuarial and no percentage per year is published in these documents. The defined contribution component is not covered.
Common mistakes
- Using this page for a member hired before March 1, 2026. The handbook assigns a tier by date of hire and entry into PERS.
- Assuming Tier 5 vests at the old four-year point. The Hybrid handbook says eight years of membership service.
- Forgetting that the Hybrid Plan also has a defined contribution component, which this page does not cover.
Related: Mississippi PERS retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether Mississippi taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi, PERS Hybrid Retirement Plan Member Handbook: www.pers.ms.gov
- Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi, Hybrid Retirement Plan Fact Sheet: www.pers.ms.gov
- Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi, PERS Member Handbook (Tiers 1 to 4): www.pers.ms.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Tax Topic 410, Pensions and annuities: www.irs.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Tax Topic 411, Pensions: the General Rule and the Simplified Method: www.irs.gov
Read from the primary documents linked above on October 30, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer or the IRS itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.