State of Texas Retirement for Retirees

The State of Texas Retirement program is a defined benefit retirement plan for eligible employees of State of Texas agencies, with mandatory participation.

Note for retirees of higher education institutions, the Community Supervision and Corrections Department and Windham School District: ERS does not administer your retirement annuity benefits. If you worked for one of these entities, please see information about the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) and the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) annuity benefits. If you are or will be eligible for retiree insurance benefits, ERS administers those. Please see the Insurance Benefits in Retirement page for more information.

Program Benefits

• Monthly annuity for life
• Option for survivor benefits after retiree’s death
• The possibility to participate in health and other insurance benefits in retirement

Manage Your Annuity Payments

Managing your annuity payments online is easy and convenient. When you log in to your ERS account, you can:

• Review your monthly statement
• Change direct deposit information
• Estimate and change tax withholding
• View and print your 1099-R forms
• Review and update beneficiaries
• Update your personal information

Get information on managing your annuity payments and annuity payment dates.

Your Annuity Option

When you retired with ERS, you chose whether you wanted a partial lump-sum payment from your State of Texas Retirement account. You also chose either the standard annuity or an option that will continue payments to your designated beneficiary after your death. Your decisions affected the annuity payments you will receive for the rest of your life, and you cannot change your decisions once you’ve retired. If you chose an annuity option that would continue payment to a designated beneficiary and your beneficiary has died before you, please contact ERS.

Gain-sharing in Group 4

Retirees in Retirement Group 4 (who started state agency employment after Aug. 31, 2022) participate in gain-sharing, a way for ERS to share positive investment returns with Group 4 retirees and members.

• Learn more about gain-sharing.
• View gain-share values since Fiscal Year 2023.

Return-to-work Retirees

If you return to state employment as a regular agency employee after you retired as a regular agency employee, you cannot contribute to the State of Texas Retirement program. You will have the option to keep your retiree insurance benefits or switch to active employee benefits. Find out more about return-to-work benefit options.  

Resources for Retirees

• Retiree health insurance through ERS
• Optional add-on benefits for retirees
• Tiered retiree insurance premium contributions
• Retirees not eligible for Medicare (under age 65)
• Texa$aver^SM 401(k) / 457 Program (personal retirement savings to supplement your State of Texas Retirement income)

Retirement Resources for Active Employees

If you’re still actively employed with a state agency, visit the following pages to understand your State of Texas Retirement benefits and begin planning for financial security after your working years.

• Frequently asked questions about retirement
• Retirement overview for regular agency employees
• Retirement overview for law enforcement and custodial officers (LECOs)
• Retirement overview for elected state officials (including district and criminal attorneys who receive salaries from the state general revenue fund)
• Retirement overview for judges who participate in the Judicial Retirement System Plan 2 (JRS 2)
• ERS Retirement and Insurance Overview handout (pdf)
• Planning Your Retirement book (pdf)