What Are the MPSERS Benefit Structures?
Michigan public school retirement has gone through several reforms since the 1980s, and each one added a new plan name to the pile. Here's the full reference — every structure that exists, in one place.
💬 GLP Retirement MinuteEvery Structure, at a Glance
Grouped by type — this is what actually determines how each one behaves.
| Structure | Who's In It |
|---|---|
| Basic Plan | Hired before Jan 1, 1990. Noncontributory — the original MPSERS pension. |
| Basic 4% | A variant some Basic members elected after the 2012 reform, contributing 4% to keep their full multiplier. |
| MIP | Hired Jan 1990–June 2010. Several internal sub-variants (Fixed, Graded, Plus, 7%) depending on exact enrollment window. |
| Pension Plus | Hired July 2010–Jan 2018. Smaller pension + a personal savings account. |
| Pension Plus 2 | Hired Feb 2018 onward, by election or default. Same hybrid structure, current version. |
| DC Plan | No pension component at all — a pure savings account, available by election since 2012. |
"Basic Converted" and "MIP Converted to DC" exist because a 2012 reform (PA 300) offered existing Basic and MIP members a one-time option to convert to a DC plan. That window closed years ago — if you see these terms, they describe a historical choice someone already made, not something newly available.
This page is the reference list — Step 1's tool tells you which specific one applies to you, based on your hire date.
Six names sounds like a lot, but they collapse into just three real categories: pure pension, pure savings, or a hybrid of both. Once you know which category you're in, the specific name matters a lot less than you'd think.