Benefits could change in February

Notices being sent out because of tax table adjustments

By Michael Pramik, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System

Jan. 30, 2018 – OPERS has begun sending benefit change notices to retirees whose pension benefits will be altered in February because of new federal tax tables.

The Internal Revenue Service has updated its income-tax withholding tables for 2018 to reflect tax reform legislation enacted in December. Whenever the government changes its tax tables, it can impact the amount OPERS withholds from retirees’ monthly benefit payments.

If that’s true of your February benefit, you’ll receive the notice in the mail within the next week. The difference between your January and February benefits will be reflected on the line labeled “Minus Federal Income Tax.” If you’d like to know your February benefit amount now, it’s available to view by signing in to your OPERS online account.

The online account also has tools allowing OPERS retirees to change their tax withholding amount or see how changing the withholding can affect their monthly benefit.

If you received an annual cost-of-living adjustment in February or made changes to your health care coverage effective Feb. 1, those updates to your benefit amount also will be reflected on the benefit change notice.

OPERS has prepared a video that provides a general explanation of benefit change notices. You can find it on our Got Mail? Get Answers website page.

Michael Pramik

Michael Pramik is communication strategist for the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and editor of the PERSpective blog. As an experienced business journalist, he clarifies complex pension policies and helps members make smart choices to secure their retirement.

Michael Pramik

Communication Strategist

12 thoughts on “Benefits could change in February

  • January 30, 2018 at 10:15 am
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    I bet the notices will arrive long after the benefit has been deposited

    Reply
    • January 31, 2018 at 4:35 pm
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      Ms. Crist,

      You can find your pension check amount in your online account beginning the day deposits are made, in this case Feb. 1. Payments are issued on the first business day of the month.

      Julie, OPERS

      Reply
  • January 30, 2018 at 12:37 pm
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    Thanks for letting us know!

    Reply
  • January 30, 2018 at 1:23 pm
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    I’m fraid that if you all keep taking money away, I won’t have anything to live on. I just checked with Social Security, nd at year 65, and despite the fact that I am blind, I will get nothing. It’s a frightening business. Loescher

    Reply
  • January 30, 2018 at 3:50 pm
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    Liked the ease of changing federal tax deduction because I would rather get the refund at year end instead of monthly.

    Reply
  • January 31, 2018 at 7:21 am
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    I do not have access to my on-line account. I was set-up years ago with OPERS and something went wrong with my account. I have talked to them about it and also tried and tried to fix it on-line. Nothing has changed. I would like to just start over from the beginning but that doesn’t work either as it keeps telling me that my information is already in use etc., etc. I would love to have an account that I could access. Can you help me?

    Reply
    • January 31, 2018 at 4:22 pm
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      Ms. Tooman,

      Please call us at 1-800-222-7377 and a member of our staff can help you.

      Julie, OPERS

      Reply
  • February 3, 2018 at 12:23 pm
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    Will OPERS be affected in any way (good or bad ) by the new tax law changes or is it too early to tell?

    Reply
    • February 5, 2018 at 3:24 pm
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      John,

      Good question. Because OPERS is a government entity, the tax changes do not impact us.

      Julie, OPERS

      Reply
  • February 28, 2018 at 6:53 pm
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    My husband had a change in his federal income tax but I didn’t receive a letter or a change in my federal withholding. Why?

    Reply
    • March 2, 2018 at 1:56 pm
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      To protect the security of your account, we can’t answer account-specific questions on social media. You can use your online account to send us a secure message, or please call us at 1-800-222-7377.

      Julie, OPERS

      Reply

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