HR, Payroll and Benefits News

WRS Annual Statement of Benefits Now Available in the Portal
April 14, 2015

If you were covered by the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) in 2014, your WRS Annual Statement of Benefits is now available online in My UW System. Log in to the portal, go to the Benefit Information module and click on the Statements tab. Click on “ETF Annual Statement of Benefits (WRS) Issued 2015” to view and print your statement.

The WRS Annual Statement of Benefits provides you with information about your WRS account as of January 1, 2015. You should review your statement closely for accuracy. The statement includes:

• 2014 WRS earnings and creditable service
• Total years of WRS creditable service
• Section 3 shows the 2014 effective rate of interest and contributions applied to your account. Please note that the Employer Paid Employee Contributions is different than the employer match.  Employer Paid Employee Contributions may have occurred due to rounding of contributions, or if you had service prior to Act 10. You can find the employer match amount in Section 9 next to Matching Employer Contributions. 
• Additional contribution information (if applicable)
• Primary beneficiary, if you have filed a beneficiary designation since 1982
• Separation benefit and death benefit calculations
• Retirement projections: formula benefit data and money purchase balance information showing the data used to calculate your retirement benefit
• If you participate in the variable fund, your variable account excess / deficiency as of January 1, 2015 is displayed

NOTE: New WRS participants who enrolled in late December 2014, and whose first wages were paid in January 2015, will not receive a statement because no WRS contributions were paid in 2014.

Informational Resources

This year, along with the Explanation of Annual Statement of Benefits, there are two new resources published by the Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF); an Introductory Letter and the Empower Women’s Retirement brochure promoting options for women to plan for retirement.  The brochure features the Wisconsin Deferred Compensation program. UW employees also have the option of participating in the Tax-Sheltered Annuity 403(b) program.

The above resources, as well as a schedule of live, interactive Statement of Benefits Webinars (on April, 21, 28 and 29; May 7, 19 and 20) is available on the WRS Annual Statement of Benefits Help Page. The help page also includes additional educational resources.

If you have questions about your statement, contact your campus Benefits Office.

Source: UW Service Center
Categories: Annual Benefits Enrollment (ABE)