Types of Service Credit
Rounding Out Your Retirement Plans
When your retirement application is processed, we forward your insurance information to the health, prescription drug, dental, and vision insurance carriers. You should receive insurance identification cards and materials a few weeks after your pension begins.
As a retiree, your state-sponsored life insurance continues for you and your dependents at no charge to you. Your coverage is 25 percent of the coverage you carried when you left work; your dependents' policies are capped at $1,000 each.
To view Long-Term Care Insurance (LTC) plan details, visit the Employee Benefits Division of the Michigan Civil Service Commission under Retiree Eligibility. If you previously enrolled in a state-sponsored LTCI plan with LifeSecure, Prudential or MetLife, you can call the vendor directly. For the LifeSecure Indiv
Eligible dependents for health, dental, and vision insurance plans include your spouse (as long as he or she is not also separately enrolled as an eligible state employee or retiree) and your unmarried children by birth, legal adoption, or full legal guardianship.
The Benefits for Life, the retiree-paid, optional coverage program offered through the state of Michigan offers you the opportunity to apply for coverage in key benefit areas. These offerings do not replace your state-sponsored benefit plans. Instead, the program offers additional financial protection with premiums payable through the convenience of pension deduction. Because the plans are optiona
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Each type of service credit has its own eligibility rules, special conditions, costs, and application procedure. In this section of the site, we provide those details about each service credit type. We also provide a summary chart below.
It is not uncommon for members to have a number of service credit purchase or transfer options. If this is your situation, contact the Michigan Office of Retirement Services, and a representative will explain the ramifications of each so that you can make an informed choice that best meets your needs.
Depending on the type of service credit, the cost may be based on a flat percentage rate, an actuarial rate, or a combination of contributions and interest. Where possible, we give you details and examples so you can estimate your cost. You can always get an actual cost by following the steps under How to Purchase.
Service Credit Costs and Limits |
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| Type | Cost | Limit |
| Universal buy-in (UBI) Anyone can buy |
Actuarial cost | 5 years reduced by purchases of credit types eliminated from law as of Aug. 1, 1998 |
| Other governmental | Actuarial cost | 5 years
No more than 10 years total of any combination of universal buy-in; parental leave; city, county, township, or village service in Michigan; and other state or federal government service credit |
| Parental leave | Actuarial cost | 5 years
No more than 10 years total of any combination of universal buy-in; parental leave; city, county, township, or village service in Michigan; and other state or federal government service credit |
| Active-duty military service | Intervening: No charge Nonintervening: 5% of highest previous fiscal year salary |
5 years |
| University service | Pre-1974: Contributions that would have been made on wages earned, plus interest Post-1974: No charge |
No limit |
| Michigan public school service | Pre-1974: Contributions that would have been made on wages earned, plus interest Post-1974: No charge |
No limit |
| Court of record | Refunded contributions, plus interest (No charge if contributions not refunded) | No limit |
| Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) of 1973 | No cost to member | No limit |
| Enlisted state police officer | Pre-1974: Refunded contributions, plus interest Post-1974: No charge |
No limit |
| County social welfare agency | $50 per month/$600 per year | No limit |