Purchasing Service Maximizing Your IPERS Benefits

Putting Your Service to Work for You

IPERS allows you to maximize your IPERS benefits through a service purchase. Purchasing service can increase your retirement benefits or enable you to retire earlier. A service purchase allows you to buy service time that you do not already have. This increase in service time results in a higher multiplier (up to the maximum) and a higher guaranteed lifetime pension.

When purchasing service, you make a payment to IPERS in return for the use of additional service credits when your IPERS benefits are calculated. It’s important to determine if the added benefits you receive from a service purchase outweigh the cost of making the service purchase.

IPERS provides free service credit for certain times when you are not working in IPERS-covered employment (for example, if you take a military leave of absence or leave of absence granted before July 1, 1998).

See Free Service Credit in the Types of Purchases topic in the left-hand menu for more information.