A presenter for the Government Employees Retirement System (GERS) demonstrated how members can access their 2025 annual statement and said the statement reflects pay and service records as of Dec. 31, 2024.

The presenter walked members through the website steps, saying, "Go to www.usvigers.com and select member self-service on the top right of your screen. Enter your username and password and click on log in. Select manage your account. Under you and your beneficiaries, click on review your document history. Then click on the PDF icon for the annual statement dated with the year 2025." The statement, the presenter said, lists name and address and shows work history and service credits.

Why this matters: the annual statement provides the data members and employers use to confirm contributions, service credits and estimated monthly annuity amounts. The presenter emphasized several items members should check on the statement: employment history rows correspond to NOPA entries showing job title and salary; service credits earned for each job; total years of service; total contributions and expected contributions as of Dec. 31, 2024.

The presenter explained how GERS calculates estimates for members in both tier 1 and tier 2. "For tier 1 employees, the table below displays your estimated monthly annuity amount based on your retirement age and years of service," the presenter said, and repeated the same explanation for tier 2. He added that the estimated amounts use an average salary capped at $65,000 as of Dec. 31, 2024.

On missing or short contributions, the presenter said members should report any missing employment history. He explained the difference between "total contributions" (what the member has paid) and "expected contributions" (what the member should have paid) and said, if total contributions are less than expected, "it means that you owe contributions." He described employer fields similarly and said, if employer contributions are less than expected, the employer owes contributions.

The presenter addressed how employer shortfalls are handled under current law: "Pursuant to the law currently, the deficit will be covered if you are employed with central government, while we send an invoice to semi autonomous agencies with the outstanding contributions owed to us," he said.

The walkthrough included administrative details: employment start and end dates, the department and job category columns, calculated earnings (with salaries above $65,000 listed at the $65,000 cap) and the notation that each NOPA entry appears as a separate row. The presenter closed by providing contact options: "Don't forget to visit our website at www.usvigers.com. You can also call our customer service office at (340) 693-3939 or email customercare@usvigers.com."