Whether you’re new to state service or preparing for retirement, LASERS offers educational seminars to help you understand your benefits and make informed decisions throughout your career.
All seminars are free, and virtual sessions offer closed captioning.
Explore the seminars below to find the one that best meets your needs.
Planning for retirement? Start with PREP.
PREP is LASERS most comprehensive retirement education seminar. Whether you’re approaching retirement or simply planning ahead, PREP provides the information you need to understand your benefits and prepare for important decisions about your future.
The PREP Seminar covers:
This seminar is available both in person (at LASERS) and virtually.
Hired on or after January 1, 2011, and more than five years from retirement eligibility? You’re in the right place!
Your LASERS membership offers more than you may realize, including valuable benefits and financial protection throughout your career, not just when you retire. Discover the advantages of membership in a defined benefit retirement plan and explore steps you can take now to build a more secure financial future.
The Early Career Seminar covers:
Members with unrefunded service credit in LASERS, TRSL, LSERS, or LSPRS before January 1, 2011, do not meet the eligibility requirements for this seminar.
Members nearing retirement eligibility are encouraged to attend PREP.
Choose how you would like to attend:
Your Retirement Benefit: Understand It. Influence it.
Learn how LASERS calculates your retirement benefit and discover how decisions and actions throughout your career can influence the amount you receive at retirement.
This seminar covers:
DROP, IBO, or Neither? Three Choices. One Important Decision.
The Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) and Initial Benefit Option (IBO) offer different opportunities to receive a lump-sum payment at retirement. This seminar helps you understand the financial considerations involved in deciding whether either option is right for you.
This seminar covers:
For HR & Payroll Personnel | Scheduled Upon Request
Getting it right. The right information, forms, and process.
The LASERS Education team offers training covering agency responsibilities from employee enrollment and contribution reporting to retirement processing and beyond.
Training can be tailored to your agency’s specific needs.
Topics may include:
Recorded versions of our PREP and DROP vs. IBO seminars, along with other helpful topics, are available anytime in our Video Library.
LASERS educational seminars provide general information about retirement benefits and options. Personalized benefit estimates are not provided during seminars, and seminars do not replace individualized retirement counseling.
Members within 18 months of retirement eligibility may request individual retirement counseling. Members may also create their own retirement benefit estimates through myLASERS.
For help with registration, cancellation, or rescheduling, contact the LASERS Education team:
You can also submit questions online through Ask LASERS.
Special accommodations: If you need an accommodation to participate in a seminar, please email us at [email protected].
While seminar cancellations are rare, LASERS may cancel or change a seminar due to low enrollment or unforeseen circumstances.
Low Enrollment
A minimum of 10 participants is required. If a seminar is canceled or transitioned to a webinar due to low enrollment, registered participants will be notified at least one week in advance.
Unforeseen Circumstances
In the event of inclement weather, illness, or another unforeseen circumstance, registered participants will be notified by email.