Penny Thomas
What is myLAGERS, and why do I need a myLAGERS account?
I recently spoke with a former colleague who told me she was not even 30 years old yet and she has absolutely no interest in talking about or thinking about retirement or planning for her financial future. She did know when she would be vested in her current pension, but she had no idea how a pension works and couldn’t tell me anything about her specific employer’s plan. “I’ll worry about that in a few years.” Bottom line, she sounded exactly like me when I was her age, and my current-age self would love to have a “welcome to reality” talk with my younger self. Unfortunately, I was not convincing enough to make my former colleague take action to support her financial future, but she is now, at least, THINKING about it.
So, what does this story have to do with myLAGERS? Everything! It’s important for ALL employees, regardless of age, to have a firm grip on the reality of their financial futures. One of the fastest, easiest, and FREE-ist ways to get on top of the LAGERS part of your financial future is using our online portal called myLAGERS.
What do I mean when I say “get on top of your LAGERS” by using myLAGERS?
By having a myLAGERS account, you’ll be able to:
- Create estimates of your benefit based on the retirement dates you provide (no limit)–no need to contact a benefit specialist
- Complete your retirement application
- Change your address without having to complete a paper form and send it in
- Change your contact information such as email address and phone number without having to call in or send in another paper form
- View your salary as reported to LAGERS
- Update your beneficiary information without having to complete the paper form
- View your service purchase history and use the service purchase estimator
- View your annual statements
- Access member newsletters
Having this control at your finger tips will allow you the security and peace of mind of knowing your LAGERS information is up to date and accurate. You can find out what you will receive from LAGERS whenever you want, on your own terms. Even if you’re under 30, you will know what to expect from LAGERS when you retire.
“If you have a myLAGERS account, you’ll receive an email from us indicating you may log in to your myLAGERS account and choose whether you would like to receive a paper version of your annual statement and newsletter.”
Some people have told me they haven’t signed up for myLAGERS because once you do, you quit getting your annual statements and newsletters via standard mail. That was true – until now.
Soon, if you have a myLAGERS account, you will receive an email from us indicating you may log in to your myLAGERS account and choose whether you would like to receive a paper version of your annual statement and newsletter. There’s no need to worry about not getting actual paper items in the mail; you will have that choice.
You may be asking, “How do I sign up?” Logging in to myLAGERS is a fairly simple process.
Begin on the home page – molagers.org
Click on “Member/Retiree Login.” Once on login page, click “Enroll Now” and perform the one-time registration process:
- Accept the End User Terms and Conditions by clicking “I Agree.”
- Enter personal information
- Create a user name and password and choose a security image and phrase
- Choose and answer four security questions
- Contact information: email address, phone number, and mailing address
- You have an option of registering your computer to bypass security questions next time you log in from your computer
Of course, any time you have questions about your myLAGERS account, you may call or email our benefit specialists. Do not feel as if you cannot call us just because you have a myLAGERS account. We are always happy to be there for any of your benefit needs. Please do not put off until tomorrow what you can do for yourself today. Enroll now!
