Traditional Pension Plan Educational resources for the Traditional Pension Plan
We offer a number of tools and resources to help you to take an active role and stay educated throughout your career so you can be prepared for retirement.
You can choose from several educational offerings including in-person seminars, interactive webinars and online recorded presentations – all designed to meet your needs and assist you in making retirement decisions. Our education is updated regularly and tailored to your specific needs throughout your career.
Looking for more information on a specific topic? Then check out our informational leaflet series or comprehensive Member Handbook.
Our educational offerings are customized specifically for each retirement group (A, B and C).
Remember, you can always check your retirement group at any time from your annual statements found in your online account.
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In-Person Events
OPERS seminars are in-person events led by trained OPERS professionals. They take place all throughout the year at various locations in Ohio.
Registration is required, and the address of the venue will be sent to you after you register.
Seminar: Active Members – Understanding Your Medicare Options
Are you confused about Medicare? There are a lot of moving parts, and as your trusted partner, OPERS would like to help you understand your options!
This interactive seminar is intended for Active Members who are currently working and will turn age 65 within the next 15 months or are already over 65. You'll walk away from this seminar with a better understanding of the following:
- The differences between Employer coverage vs. Medicare coverage
- The different parts of Medicare – Parts A, B, C, D
- How Medicare coordinates with individual Medicare plans
- How Medicare works and the difference between Medicare Advantage and Medigap / Medicare Supplement plans
- When to enroll in Medicare and an individual Medicare plan and what you'll need during the enrollment process
- The Medicare Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) – a monthly deposit that will offset your medical expenses
- What resources are available to assist you
Several OPERS staff will be on-hand to make sure that all of your questions are answered!
If you will be under 65 at retirement, please register for the "Ready to Retire Health Care: Pre-Medicare" here.
You can register for OPERS seminars in two different ways:
Online Account
You can register online with your Online Account. Once logged in click on “Tools and Resources” and then on “Seminars and Counseling” to select a seminar.
Phone
You can also register for a seminar by calling OPERS at 1-800-222-7377
Seminar: Ready to Retire
This seminar is for those within 5 years of retirement eligibility and includes two presentations which are conducted back-to-back.
During these presentations you will learn about the retirement application process, timeline details about your transition to retirement, and the tools and resources available to help you with your retirement decisions.
Topics Include:
- Understanding your monthly payment
- Things to consider before applying for retirement
- How Social Security may be impacted by your OPERS retirement
- Eligibility requirements for the health care program
- Understanding your Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA)
- Health care options available to Pre-Medicare and Medicare retirees
Seminar locations are updated on a quarterly basis.
You can register for OPERS seminars in two different ways:
Online Account
You can register online with your Online Account. Once logged in click on “Tools and Resources” and then on “Seminars and Counseling” to select a seminar.
Phone
You can also register for a seminar by calling OPERS at 1-800-222-7377
Live Webinars
Webinars are live, interactive demonstrations given over the Internet. Attendees only need a computer to join, making it a convenient way to ask real OPERS educators questions about their retirement.
The information conveyed is the same as the in-person seminars of the same name.
Webinar: Active Members: Understanding Your Medicare Options
Are you confused about Medicare? There are a lot of moving parts, and as your trusted partner, OPERS would like to help you understand your options!
This interactive seminar is intended for Active Members who are currently working and will turn age 65 within the next 15 months or are already over 65. You'll walk away from this seminar with a better understanding of the following:
- The differences between Employer coverage vs. Medicare coverage
- The different parts of Medicare – Parts A, B, C, D
- How Medicare coordinates with individual Medicare plans
- How Medicare works and the difference between Medicare Advantage and Medigap / Medicare Supplement plans
- When to enroll in Medicare and an individual Medicare plan and what you'll need during the enrollment process
- The Medicare Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) – a monthly deposit that will offset your medical expenses
- What resources are available to assist you
Several OPERS staff will be on-hand to make sure that all of your questions are answered!
If you will be under 65 at retirement, please register for the "Ready to Retire Health Care: Pre-Medicare" webinar here.
Webinar: Funding Pension and Health Care
Did you know that pension payments have increased by a billion dollars in the last 5 years. Do you ever wonder how OPERS faces this type of challenge?
Do you ever wonder things like:
- Where does the money come from for pension and health care payments?
- Is OPERS financially stable?
- How is investing as a retirement system different than my own investments?
If so, join us for this webinar as we review the financial status of the OPERS Pension and Health Care Trust Funds as well as the most recent membership statistics from our Annual Financial Comprehensive Report, Popular Annual Financial Report and Annual Health Care Report.
Webinar: Ready to Retire (Pension)
This webinar is one part of the two-part Ready to Retire series.
Topics include:
- How to calculate your monthly payment
- Important decisions that you will need to make and how to apply for retirement
- Timeline details about your transition to retirement
- How Social Security may be impacted by your OPERS retirement benefits
Webinar Handouts
Please download and keep handy. We will refer to these handouts throughout the webinar.
Webinar: Ready to Retire (Health Care)
This webinar is one part of the two-part Ready to Retire series.
Topics include:
- Eligibility for health care
- Understanding your allowance
- Using a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA)
- Selecting a plan
- Re-employment
Webinar Handouts
Please download and keep handy. We will refer to these handouts throughout the webinar.
Webinar: Understanding the Value of Your OPERS Retirement
When you think about your retirement with OPERS, do you ever wonder things like:
- Where does the 10% OPERS deduction from my paycheck go?
- Where does the 14% OPERS contribution from my employer go?
- Do I qualify for any benefits now?
- What is a Pension and why is it valuable?
- What happens if I quit employment?
- Is health care in retirement like it is with my employer?
Join us for this webinar, where you'll find out the answers to these questions and more.
Webinar Handouts
Please download and keep handy. We will refer to these handouts throughout the webinar.
Financial Wellness
Personal Budgeting
When it comes to improving your overall finances and economic wellbeing it's important to know where your money is coming from and where you are spending your income.
The goal of this webinar is to show how personal budgeting can help you meet your short and long-term goals. During this webinar, we will review the following:
- Myths and rules associated with personal budgeting
- Ways to recognize if your expenses exceed your income
- The 50/20/30 rule and how to use it with our online tool
Bridging the Gap to Retirement Income
Financial wellness is the knowledge of personal finance which enables healthier financial decisions to achieve one's goals, and to enhance the overall quality of life.
The goal of this webinar is to help you assess your financial wellness, review your current spending habits and estimate your retirement income so you can identify the "gap" between what you will have in retirement and what you will need. We'll also show you ways you can begin closing your gap today.
Join us to learn how making sound financial decisions can lead to a more secure retirement in the future.
Health Care: The Hidden Cost in Retirement
This webinar will review the long-term cost of health care and better prepare you for retirement. Health care is no longer something you just have in retirement, it's something you need to plan for.
Topics include:
- The rising cost of health care coverage.
- How different health care in retirement is compared to your employer's coverage.
- How saving for health care costs in retirement may factor into when you can retire.
- How retiring later in age may be more beneficial to you financially.
- If eligible, you may receive a health care allowance from OPERS.
Recorded Presentations
Recorded presentations can be viewed online at any time and registration is not required.
Although these presentation are not interactive, they are a great way to get more in-depth information on a specific topic. You can get move through the presentation at your pace, pausing or replaying sections.
- Active Members: Understanding Your Medicare Options (link opens in new tab)
- Minute with Member Services (link opens in new tab)
- Understanding the Value of Your OPERS Retirement (link opens in new tab)
- Other System Service Credit - Options for Using Other Ohio Retirement System Service Credit With OPERS (link opens in new tab)
- Purchasing Service Credit (link opens in new tab)
- Personal Budgeting
- Bridging the Gap to Retirement
- Health Care: The Hidden Cost in Retirement (link opens in new tab)
- Funding Pension and Health Care (link opens in new tab)
- Ready to Retire: Pension (Part 1)
- Ready to Retire Health Care: Pre-Medicare (Part 2)
- Ready to Retire Health Care: Medicare (Part 2)
- Refunding from the Traditional Pension Plan
- Options for Law Enforcement Members with Non-Law Enforcement Service Credit
- Disability Benefits Presentation
Learn More
The following resources provide detailed information on a number of subjects as well as the latest news and updates from OPERS.