Contract Service Purchase (M.G.L. c.32, §4(1)(s))
Members of the MSERS may purchase creditable service for service provided to the Commonwealth as a contract employee. You must meet the eligibility requirements including but not limited to:
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You must currently be a member in service of MSERS with at least ten years of creditable service.
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The contract service being purchased must have immediately preceded membership or re-entry into MSERS. If the contract service preceded any refunded service, it is not eligible.
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The job description of the contract service position must have been substantially similar to the job description you held upon becoming an employee and a member of the MSERS.
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The maximum amount of contract service eligible to be purchased is four years. (Eligible part-time contract service shall be credited on a proportional basis.)
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The cost to purchase contract service is the amount equal to that which would have been withheld as regular retirement deductions for the contract service as if the service had been rendered as a state employee, had you been a member of the MSERS, plus buyback interest.
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Once found eligible, you must take action within 180 days to purchase the service via a lump sum payment or enter into an installment payment arrangement, otherwise the contract service will no longer be eligible for purchase.