There are currently over 700 employer partners with the ASRS, which consists of a diverse group of public education, state agencies, counties, cities and towns, and more! What does this mean for you? If you leave one ASRS employer for another, your ASRS account will pick up right where you left off.

Enrollment Code

When switching ASRS employers, make sure you re-enroll your myASRS account! Every ASRS employer has a unique enrollment code and provides it to all their new hires. When you receive the enrollment code from your employer, simply go through the first-time registration process and enter your enrollment code.

It’s okay to already have a pre-existing myASRS secure account. Once your employer approves the enrollment and your first contribution is received, your secure account will update and reflect your new employer and contributions! By re-enrolling your account, you will ensure your contributions are properly associated with you. Remember: you only have one ASRS account, no matter how many ASRS employers you work for.

Switching to a non-ASRS Employer

What if you plan on switching to an employer who is not part of the ASRS? That’s okay! You can leave your account open with us and return to it later, whether you return to work with an ASRS employer or retire. If you do return to work with an ASRS employer and have not taken a withdrawal of your contributions, once you re-enroll, you will continue to contribute to your already existing ASRS account, no matter how long it has been since you last contributed.

Please note - if you leave an ASRS employer and choose to forfeit your ASRS Membership by withdrawing your contributions, your ASRS membership will start over should you ever choose to return to an ASRS employer. This means you will begin with no service credit or funds on your account. Once you begin actively contributing again, you have the option to purchase back your years of forfeited service. To learn more, check out our article: A Service Purchase Overview: Types & Price.

The ASRS has been recently featured in Investor Profile with Top1000Funds.com:

Arizona Ups Equity, Adjusts Pacing on Overweight Private Markets

Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) the $50 billion pension fund for some 600,000 public sector employees in America’s Four Corners region, will opportunistically increase both US and international public equity exposure in line with its moderately bullish view on public equities and a new strategic asset allocation that targets 44 per cent of AUM in the asset class.

The global public equity allocation is mostly passive in line with a belief in the efficient market hypothesis. However, the investment team does introduce marginal enhancements to index weights and takes advantage of trading opportunities within the tactical asset allocation in what executive director Paul Matson calls “enhanced passive”, that isn’t a fundamental approach but still seeks to add small, incremental returns where possible. The strategy has helped the fund achieve a 10-year return of 8.45 per cent, amongst the top 6 per cent of US public funds.

Check out the featured article through Top1000Funds.com: https://www.top1000funds.com/2024/01/arizona-asrs-ups-equity-adjusts-pacing-on-overweight-private-markets/

If you’re on the fence about opening a supplemental savings account, keep in mind that when you establish a savings plan, it is okay to start small. With Nationwide Retirement Solutions, a partner of the ASRS, the minimum starting amount is $10 per pay period. 

Over time, you can adjust your contributions as needed – the important part is getting started. The earlier you begin, the more time you allow compounded interest to increase your money. Building the habit of saving money early on can provide additional comfort for retirement. 

Visit our Supplemental Savings Plans page for more information on the savings plans  available to you through Nationwide. Note that there are separate savings plans depending upon who your employer is, but all Nationwide options are overseen by the ASRS. You may also want to peak with your employer’s HR department, as your employer may offer additional savings plans as well. 

We encourage you to explore all your options for supplementing your retirement so you can have additional income when you retire. If you would like to see how much a savings plan can impact your future retirement, there are some resources available to you: Investor.gov includes both a Savings Goal Calculator and a Compound Interest Calculator that you can use to see how long it takes you to reach your goals, including how much you can receive.

Contribution rates have been set for fiscal year 2026-27, which begins on July 1, 2026. The total contribution rate for FY 2026-27 will be 11.98%, a decrease from the current rate of 12.00%, which continues through June 30, 2026. 

At the end of each fiscal year - June 30 - a valuation of the ASRS benefit plans is undertaken by an outside actuarial firm. Guided by the ASRS Funding Policy, the valuation and the recommended contribution rate for the new fiscal year are presented to the ASRS Board of Trustees for adoption, which took place on November 20, 2025. You can view notes and the live stream for this meeting on our Board and Committee Meetings page, where we post information on all our meetings that are open to the public.

Contribution rates are paid equally by ASRS active members and their employers. There are two portions to the ASRS contribution rate: the Pension & Health Insurance Benefit supplement contribution rate, which pays for retirement benefits, and the Long Term Disability contribution rate, which pays for long-term disability claims. The Pension Plan contribution is a pre-tax deduction, and the Long-Term Disability deduction is post-tax. Tax on pension benefits is deferred until payment is made to the member as a benefit or refund.

Our primary goal related to contribution rates is a steady overall decline for the foreseeable future, avoiding large year-to-year fluctuations, and keeping the ASRS on a path to a single-digit contribution rate.

When planning to retire with the ASRS, you may begin thinking about how early you can begin receiving your benefit. First, it's important to understand how the ASRS defines “normal” and “early” retirement, and how the criteria for each may change depending upon when you started making contributions to the ASRS.

The ASRS establishes Normal Retirement criteria through multiple factors. For instance, the ASRS uses your Membership Date to establish Early or Normal Retirement. The following chart, also available on our Retirement Eligibility page, shows a breakdown of the factors used to meet Early and Normal Retirement within the ASRS, and how they vary based on your membership date:

An example based on the chart above:

If your membership began on May 15, 2005, you will use the section labeled “1/1/1984 through 6/30/2011” to review your normal or early retirement criteria options. This means that when you have at least 10 years of service, you can retire with a normal, unreduced pension if:

• • Your years of service plus age at retirement equal 80
  • You have 10 or more years of service when you're 62, or
  • You're 65 with any amount of service

As mentioned above, to determine how many “points” you have, we add your age and years of service with the ASRS to see if they meet the threshold for normal retirement: 

Scenario 1: if you have 30 years of service and are 50, you will have 80 points!

Scenario 2: if you have 20 years of service and are 60, you will have 80 points!

You will notice the chart has a couple of consistencies when establishing Normal Retirement. The first is that as long as you have 10 years of service, you can retire under Normal Retirement criteria at 62, regardless of your membership date. Also, at 65, you may retire under Normal Retirement criteria, regardless of your years of service. In addition, as long as you have 5 years of service, you can retire as early as 50, but your benefit would be permanently reduced.

Please keep in mind that should you delay taking your retirement past the age of 65, and you are not contributing to the ASRS, then your pension will not see an increase and will remain the same amount, whether you retire at 65, 70, or beyond.

For more information on retirement with the ASRS, please visit our Retirement Central page. 

As a member of the ASRS, it’s important to understand the full value of your membership and the benefits available to you both now and in the future.

This includes:

• • • Pension payments that will last for your lifetime
    • Beneficiary benefits – Pension payments can last for the life of your beneficiary should you choose to take an adjusted pension
    • Long term disability, available to our active employees
    • Optional supplemental savings plans, available to our active members
    • Survivor benefits, payable to your beneficiary upon your passing, available to our active, inactive, and retired members
    • Flexibility – Members can move between ASRS employers, revoke membership and withdraw contributions, leave and roll contributions to another retirement plan, or leave money on account with the ASRS to grow and receive a future pension

These are just a portion of the benefits offered through the ASRS. To learn more, see ‘The Value of Your Membership’ below for an overview of important benefits available to members. 

Every five years, the ASRS develops a new Strategic Plan. This plan is meant to identify key areas the agency wishes to enhance and optimize, as well as areas we’d like to monitor and maintain. Our newest plan, which began on July 1, 2023, will run until June 30, 2028.

The goal for our new strategic plan is to excel in the areas of:

• • Customer Service
  • Investment Performance
  • Risk Management
  • Cost Effectiveness
  • Organizational Sustainability and Governance

To help us realize these goals, each is supported by a number of objectives, categorized as either a Strategic Objective or an Ongoing Objective. Strategic objectives are new areas of focus, while ongoing objectives are current areas of focus we feel need to be maintained to help achieve a particular goal. 

For example, our goal of excelling in customer service currently has five strategic objectives and six ongoing objectives. These objectives range from fostering well-educated members to continuing timely and accurate payment processing, with each objective having specific measures and targets.

These objectives – and all objectives for all of our goals - were carefully identified, thought out, and vetted by a process that involved staff across the agency, as well as a round table discussion with our Board of Directors.

To learn more about our objectives and goals over the coming years, make sure to read through our new Strategic Plan.

Our previous strategic plan, which began in fiscal year 2018 and ended this past June 30, 2023, resulted in a number of successes. Among other things, we achieved key benchmarks in service and cost-effectiveness versus our peers, ranking third highest in service and eleventh lowest in cost. We also achieved investment returns in our 1, 3, and 5-year investment targets equal to or greater than relevant benchmarks, and we continued to foster trust and confidence with members and employers at a high level.

As we move forward, we strive to be just as successful with our new strategic plan – continually improving how we serve our members, employers, and the state.

When thinking about how to keep your myASRS account secure, most probably only think about having a strong password. And, while this absolutely helps, you may want to put some thought into your Login ID as well.

Your login credentials help keep your account secure and it is important to consider that you may have a Login ID similar to another member. Because the system does allow both capital and lowercase letters, there can be multiple Login IDs with the same spelling but affiliated with different accounts. For instance, while John Doe may have the Login ID of “JDoe,” Jane Doe may also have “jdoe.” This can result in accidental login attempts to the wrong account if a member forgets if or where they have capital letters in their Login ID. If this does happen, the other member will be notified of the failed login attempt, which can result in them worrying that their account is at risk.

To avoid any accidental login attempts from others who may have a Login ID similar to yours, it’s beneficial to create a unique Login ID, especially if you have a common name. If you feel that you would like to update your Login ID, you can do this at any time! Simply log into your myASRS secure account, and located towards the bottom of your drop-down menu, you will see “Your Profile,” and directly under it will be a link labeled “Edit Profile/Email.” Once there, you can update your login ID, then all you will need to do is input your password, and your Login ID will be updated once you hit save!

If you’ve recently moved outside of Arizona – or have been thinking about it – there’s some important information you should know regarding your pension and benefits provided by the ASRS. 

State Tax Implications

If you’re not living in Arizona, you don’t want to keep paying Arizona state taxes. Just because you changed your mailing address doesn’t mean the tax withholding stops – you have to stop that on your own in your myASRS account. Also, the ASRS cannot withhold taxes for other states, so you’ll need to contact the state tax authority in your new state to see if your pension is taxable there.

Medical & Dental Insurance   

While both dental carriers available through the ASRS – Delta Dental and Cigna Dental – have U.S. coverage outside of Arizona, there are exceptions, and you’ll want to research whether or not there is in-network coverage in the area you plan to move. 

For medical insurance, UnitedHealthcare has both Medicare and non-Medicare plans with coverage for those not living in Arizona: for Medicare retirees, it’s the Medicare Advantage PPO plan. Make sure to look up which plan you’re enrolled in, and remember that any time you’re thinking of changing plans, compare benefits and research network availability in the area you plan to move. For non-Medicare retirees, all plans have nationwide in-network coverage and will not be affected when moving outside of Arizona. 

Also, if you’re moving out of state and you wish to make changes to your medical and/or dental coverage outside of our annual November open enrollment period, a change in primary residence can be a Qualifying Life Event if the change in your place of residence affects your current coverage through the ASRS. For more information about Qualifying Life Events, visit the Healthcare page of the Retiree section of AzASRS.gov and look for the link titled “Click here to check if you have a Qualifying Life Event.” 

Moving outside of the United States?

If you’ve decided to move out of the country, keep in mind that the ASRS cannot make direct deposits to foreign banks – pension benefits must be deposited to a U.S. bank or financial institution.  

As for taxes, if you’re a U.S. citizen living outside the United States, your worldwide income is subject to U.S. income tax, regardless of where you live. However, you may qualify for certain foreign-earned income exclusions and/or foreign income tax credits. For more information, visit IRS.gov and search “international taxpayer.” (Don’t forget - if you ever decide to permanently move back to the U.S., please notify the ASRS upon your return!) 

Also, ASRS medical and dental insurance plans are U.S.-based plans, and coverage for services outside of the U.S. are generally not covered (limited emergency services only).

Update your myASRS Account

Whether you’re moving out of the state, country, or just across the street – remember to update your address with the ASRS by logging into your myASRS account at AzASRS.gov. Your pension will keep coming every month, but we may need to send you information by mail, email, or reach you by phone. It’s important to keep all your contact information up-to-date with the ASRS so we can keep you informed of changes.  We may also need to use it to verify your identity, should you contact us in the future.

For any additional information, make sure to visit the Retiree section of AzASRS.gov!  

by Nathaniel Brengle, Strategic Communications

If you are nearing retirement, have you thought about continuing to work after you retire? If the answer is yes, there are several key factors to consider if you plan to return to work, primarily whether you will work directly with an ASRS employer and our 20/20 Membership Criteria. 

Working after retiring from the ASRS allows our members to receive their monthly pension while also receiving a paycheck from their new employer. Please also note that you cannot actively contribute to the ASRS and receive your ASRS pension.

Working For a Non-ASRS Employer

Is your plan to return to work with a non-ASRS employer? ASRS statutes and rules regarding returning to work after retirement pertain only to returning to work directly with an ASRS employer. If you will be working for a non-ASRS employer or you become employed through a 3rd party with an ASRS employer, you will not need to notify the ASRS of your return to work status and may work as many hours as you would like. As a result, your pension will not be affected.

Working for an ASRS Employer

If you are planning on returning to work for an ASRS employer while also receiving an ASRS pension, please ensure you are following the appropriate processes and procedures that the ASRS is bound by through State Statutes. 

Normal Retirement

When you retire from the ASRS and end your employment, you have an official “Termination Date” through the ASRS. As long as you have retired under Normal Retirement, you must wait 365 days from your Termination Date before meeting the 20/20 Membership Criteria. During the 365-day waiting period, you may still return to work with an ASRS employer, but you must remain under the 20/20 Membership Criteria:

• • Work less than 20 hours per week; or
  • Work 20 or more hours per week for not more than 19 weeks in our Fiscal Year, which runs from July 1 to June 30 of the following calendar year. The remaining 33 weeks in the Fiscal Year must be below 20 hours per week to continue receiving your pension and not contribute to the ASRS.

Early Retirement

Should you decide to take Early Retirement with the ASRS and want to return to work with an ASRS employer, you must remain under the 20/20 Membership Criteria until the following happens:

• • • You reach Normal Retirement (you will naturally age into Normal Retirement), AND
    • It has been 365 days since your Termination Date

Once you have reached both requirements, you can return to work with an ASRS employer without restrictions. Please be advised that should you be working under the 20/20 Membership Criteria and then reach the two requirements, if you choose to increase your hours, a new Working After Retirement Form must be completed. 

Not Terminating Employment?

Members have the option to retire with the ASRS, receive their pension, and still keep their current job title with their employer without terminating, but they are required to reduce their hours. Please be aware that should you choose not to terminate employment and retire directly with the ASRS, you will be required to remain under the 20/20 Membership Criteria throughout the duration of your employment. This means that you can work 19 weeks at 20 or more hours, but for the remaining 33 weeks in our Fiscal Year, you must work no more than 19 hours per week. If you end up working over the 20/20 Membership Criteria, your pension will be suspended, and you will be required to contribute to the ASRS once more.

We understand that our members will have different scenarios when considering returning to work after retiring from the ASRS, and by visiting our Return to Work page, you will be provided with a breakdown of the Statutes that the ASRS must follow and further information on returning to work after retirement. By gaining access to your myASRS secure account, you may access our Working After Retirement tool, where you can review your own specific options for returning to work.

If you would like to learn more about Early Retirement versus Normal Retirement, please visit our Retirement Eligibility page.