If you are not yet retired and want to update your beneficiary designation with PERA, please complete and submit a Beneficiary Designation form. It is important to note that if this change is the result of marriage, PERA will also require a copy of your marriage certificate. If this change is the result of a divorce, you will need to include a copy of your court-endorsed final decree, marital settlement agreement, and any order related to your retirement benefits. If you are married and wish to name someone other than your spouse, your spouse must sign the Beneficiary Spousal Consent form in the presence of a notary. If you have submitted the required forms and your beneficiary designation has not been updated, please contact PERA for assistance. If you are seeking to change your beneficiary designation after retirement, please visit our Retiree Frequently Asked Questions tab or contact PERA.

If you worked for a PERA-affiliated employer in the past and refunded/withdrew your contributions, you also forfeited the related service credit. You may be able to reinstate the service credit by purchasing the withdrawn service credit. Please contact PERA to learn more. Also, if you receive more than one annual member statement, please contact PERA. Regardless of which of PERA�s 31 plans a member is covered under, the member�s participation is recorded based on the member�s Social Security number. Other possible reasons for missing service credit could be taking leave without pay, employer furloughs, or incorrect reporting of wages or contributions by your employer. If you believe that wages or contributions have not been reported correctly. Please complete and submit a PERA Request form so that staff may conduct an audit. Please indicate which months/years of service credit are missing/incorrect under each PERA-affiliated employer. If necessary, we will work with your employer to make any necessary corrections. Lastly, if you were employed as a temporary, seasonal, part-time (less than 20 hours per week), or other excluded employee, such as an elected official or certain student employees, or were concurrently employed with an Educational Retirement Board employer and were employed by that employer first, you were not eligible to participate in PERA, and did not accrue service credit for that employment.

Yes, another person can complete the application for you provided you or your attorney in fact sign the application.

No. Please submit the representative paperwork to PERA�s legal department for review. Once approved, you can contact Customer Service to obtain a copy of the deceased member�s 1099.

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If you have a legal interest, you can fill out a request with the Bureau of Vital Statistics and provide proof of the interest.

PERA cannot provide you with legal advice, please contact a domestic relations att

Please contact PERA so that your court order can be reviewed. In general, unless your court order specifically provides otherwise, the share will continue to be paid to the co-payee after remarriage or to co-payee� estate after death.

You can login into your SmartSave account. Your deferred compensation account allows you to access your: � Account Balance � Account Activity � Balance History � Rate of Return � Update Contributions � Fund Allocation � Quarterly Statements � Beneficiary Information

To earn service credit during your last month of employment you must remain on payroll through the 15th day of the month. Your retirement becomes effective the first of the month following receipt of your completed and submitted Application for Pension, required documentation, termination of employment with all PERA affiliated employers and determination by PERA that you have successfully met all eligibility requirements and conditions. PERA does not retire members in the middle of the month.

Reciprocal service credit earned with the Educational Retirement Board (ERB) may be combined toward retirement eligibility and used to calculate your pension benefits. Since there are different age and service requirements for each of the different plans and tiers, you may not receive your ERB pension benefit when you retire from PERA. When you qualify to receive the reciprocal portion benefit, you will begin receiving that amount directly from ERB. Members with reciprocal service credits apply for and retire under the state system of their last employer. So, if you worked for an Educational Retirement Board (ERB) employer in the past and are now working for a PERA employer, you will retire under PERA.

Most of the information in a PERA member�s file is confidential by statute. Member information can be provided to a person other than the member with the consent of the member provided on PERA�s forms or if the person requesting the information has been appointed Power of Attorney or legal guardian of the member. Some member information is not confidential, including member contributions on account, applicable coverage plans, and gross pension amounts paid.

If you have attempted to obtain copies of your divorce paperwork but could not obtain a copy of the paperwork, please submit a notarized affidavit stating why you do not have the documents, and the efforts made to obtain the divorce documents for PERA�s review.

You may obtain your account balance several ways: 1) Log into your RIO Account and view your account information 24/7; 2) Call 1-866-678-0670 to speak with a PERA Customer Service Representative; or 3) Email PERA-memberservices@state.nm.us. Employer contributions are not included in your account balance because by statute, employer contributions remain in the PERA Fund and are used for investments and to pay the costs of the fund.

You may designate only one person, one supplemental needs trust, or one organization as a refund beneficiary and either one person or one supplemental needs trust as a survivor beneficiary. The refund beneficiary and the survivor beneficiary can be the same person/entity. The refund beneficiary designation is very important if you have not vested. If you die before you are vested and your death is not duty-related, your member contributions plus interest are paid in a lump sum to your designated refund beneficiary. If you do not designate a refund beneficiary, your member contributions will be paid to your estate. The survivor beneficiary designation becomes effective after you have become vested or if you die from duty-related causes before being vested. This benefit pays a monthly lifetime pension to your designated survivor beneficiary. Survivor pension amounts vary for non-duty-related and duty-related deaths.

New Mexico is a community property state and the PERA Act requires PERA to determine whether an ex-spouse is entitled to a portion of your retirement benefits. You can submit the documents for review via PERA�s Secure File Upload feature, by fax or by email. PERA also requires divorce documents to establish a member�s marital status for purposes of determining whether spousal consent is required or to update beneficiary designations upon divorce.

Please call (866) 678-0670 or email PERA-memberservices@state.nm.us.

When you are within three (3) years of retirement eligibility, please submit a PERA Request form to request an Estimate of Benefits for your preferred retirement date (first eligible, targeted date, specific years of service, specific age, specific percentage, etc.). Please also review PERA's Retirement Kit. The kit contains all required forms, instructions, and a list of required documents that must be submitted along with your Application for Pension. We advise members to submit their Application for Pension and required documentation no less than 60 days but no more than 6 months ahead of their effective retirement date. You can submit your retirement application and supporting documents by fax, mail or by uploading through PERA�s Secure File Upload feature. Please also review "How to Retire from PERA" in PERA�s video library.

PERA�s wages and contributions are reported based on pay period end dates and are reflected on a fiscal year basis, not a calendar year basis. PERA�s definition of salary does not typically include overtime nor leave balance payouts

PERA can only administer a division of your retirement benefits if a court orders PERA to pay your former spouse a portion of your retirement benefits directly, and the order has been received and approved by PERA�s Office of General Counsel. Attorney Instructions and a Model Order Dividing PERA Retirement Benefits can be found on PERA�s website.