If Helfrich has been a PERS employee for only 8 years, he would not be in either tier 1 or tier 2  PERS as the other retirees mentioned must be. How does retirement work for those hired later? I thought the system was reformed to be something  like an IRA a dozen or so years ago. I understood that those covered by the new plan  would be covered by what was being saved now, not by future taxpayers.