Counseling Resources for Members

If you participate in the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), Judicial Retirement System (JRS), Elected Public Officers Retirement System (EPORS), the Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan (SBS-AP), or the Alaska Deferred Compensation Plan, we have a team of specialists ready and prepared to help you understand the benefits available to you.

Meet Your Counselors

• Natalia Golovatiuk grew up in Odessa City, Ukraine. She joined the Division of Retirement and Benefits as a Member Education Center agent in 2011 and was promoted to a position of counselor in 2013. The retirement and benefits world can be flooded with complex rules, policies, procedures, and statutes and regulations, but Natalia believes it can be transparent and simple. She enjoys helping members and presenting complex things in a simple way.


• Mark Rosier loves Alaska and working with the awesome team at the Division of Retirement and Benefits. Originally from Michigan, Mark was imported to Alaska 16 years ago after meeting his Alaskan born wife at the University of Michigan. After nine years of retirement counseling, he still loves helping State of Alaska retirement plan members understand their benefits.


• Heather Anderson grew up in Portland, Oregon and moved to Alaska in 1983. She has over 20 years of experience as an Executive Accountant working with Native Corporations and was fortunate to travel to many rural Alaska communities. Heather thoroughly enjoyed traveling and getting to know different cultures and people. Currently, she works as a Senior Benefits Counselor, blending her numerical skills with one-on-one interactions.


• Stan Love is a regional counselor who came out of retirement because he enjoyed working with members and his coworkers so much. He loves spending time with family. He has two children, one of whom is a professional disc golfer, and eight grandchildren. In his free time, he likes to go to church, play disc golf, travel to new places, and try different types of fresh fish and crustaceans.


• Becky Sheridan joined the counseling team in Anchorage nine years ago after almost five years of working with Empower Retirement (known as Great West at the time). She enjoys the plan administrator side of things, helping people to understand their options for retirement and all the great benefits available in the PERS and TRS Retirement plans.


• Kevin Dunne grew up in New York City and Juneau, Alaska. In 1993, he graduated from Southern Oregon State University and moved back home to Juneau. He began his journey with the Division of Retirement and Benefits in 2017. He was promoted to the Member Education Center as a Walk-in Counselor, then again as a Senior Benefits Counselor in May 2023.


• Marsha Layton has lived in Alaska since 1998 and is very grateful for the opportunity to help fellow Alaskans understand their benefits and start their retirement journey. She loves saying “Congratulations on your retirement!”


• Danielle Redmond grew up in Duwamish territory and attended college in Switzerland. She came to Alaska for a summer of commercial fishing in 2006 and has been here ever since. She began working with the Division of Retirement and Benefits in 2018 and enjoys helping people navigate complex systems and life transitions in their own unique ways.


• Amanda Beebe-Bay is from Southeast Alaska and has worked for the State in various departments, dealing mainly with rules and statutes. Because of this, her transition to the Division of Retirement and Benefits was seamless. She enjoys helping people make informed decisions about their retirement and is passionate about serving the people of Alaska.

Reach Out

Do you have any questions about a particular benefit? Are you beginning to think about retirement and want to understand the process? Don’t hesitate to make an appointment using the online scheduler to have a personalized discussion about your retirement benefits. Visit our Counseling Services page, drb.alaska.gov/contact/counseling.html to learn more.

We are here for you!

The Post Retirement Pension Adjustment

The 2023 automatic Post Retirement Pension Adjustment (PRPA) will be paid with the July check.

The automatic PRPA is payable to a Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) retiree under age 60, if retired for five years or more on or before July 1, 2023.

In addition to the above requirements, a retiree must have been receiving a benefit in the prior year (2022) to be eligible for the 2023 PRPA. Eligible recipients, who have not received pension benefits during the entire preceding calendar year, will receive a prorated PRPA.

If you meet these requirements or are age 60 to 64 on July 1, 2023, you will receive 50% (3.948%) of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) change during 2022.

Retirees aged 65 or older and all disability benefit recipients receive 75% (5.923%) of the CPI. The PRPA for survivor benefit recipients is calculated on the member’s eligibility.

The CPI for the 2023 PRPA is 7.897%. If you do not meet any of the above criteria, you are not eligible.

Due to fund conditions, the Division did not recommend an ad hoc PRPA for 2023. The ad hoc PRPA is defined in statute as, “…based on the financial condition of the retirement funds.”

• This example shows a retiree who is receiving a benefit from the PERS.
• Your statement will show more than one benefit if you worked for both retirement systems or if you are also receiving a survivor’s benefit.

1. Prior PRPAs: The combined monthly amount of all PRPAs paid from the date you retired through June 30, 2023.
2. 2023 Automatic PRPA: This is effective July 1, 2023, based on the change in consumer price index (CPI).

Example of monthly statement

Base Benefits			Deductions
	PERS ORIGINAL BASE	$XX.XX	PERS FED INCOME WITHHOLD	$XX.XX
1)	PERS PRIOR PRPAS	$XX.XX	PERS DENTAL, VISION, AUDIO	$XX.XX
2)	PERS 2023 AUTOMATIC PRPA	$XX.XX	PERS OPTIONAL LIFE INSUR	$XX.XX
			TRS LONG TERM CARE - RET	$XX.XX

2023 Retiree Benefit Mailing Dates

Retiree benefits will be mailed on the following dates in 2023:

• January 25
• February 24
• March 23
• April 25
• May 25
• June 24
• July 25
• August 24
• September 25
• October 25
• November 22
• December 21

The mailing date is also the date that funds are available from your financial institution. If you would like to have your benefit directly deposited, complete the Electronic Direct Deposit Authorization for Retirees form and return it to the Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits.

You can find the form on the Benefit Mailing Dates page.

Have You Updated Your Beneficiaries Lately?

When changes such as marriage, divorce, birth of a child, grandchildren, or inevitably death occur, it is important for you to update your beneficiary designations.

Even if you haven’t experienced any such events, if you haven’t updated your beneficiary designations in years, you should do so. It is important for the Division to have updated addresses and contact information for your beneficiaries in the event of your death. It is our desire to disburse any benefits available to your family or friends according to your current wishes.

To assist you, we have developed a new, easy to use form that can be found on our Forms and Documents webpage, drb.alaska.gov/docs.

You can update your beneficiary designation by submitting a new beneficiary form at any time. If you have questions about updating your beneficiary designation, contact the Division of Retirement and Benefits.

Retirees In Touch

Meet Carolyn Tague

Teachers Retirement System (TRS) retiree Carolyn Tague was a special educator for 32 years, 24 of which were with the Anchorage School District. During her childhood, Carolyn watched an after-school special about a teacher working with children who experienced emotional and behavioral challenges. Inspired and touched by this, Carolyn decided to pursue a career in the area of special education. After graduating from Pennsylvania State University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in special education, she began teaching in the Philadelphia area. In 1991, after teaching in Philadelphia for five years, and in Nevada for one, she decided to move her career to Anchorage, Alaska.

During her life, inspired and taught by her mother’s example, she developed a strong desire to help those in need. Motivated by this passion, she traveled to rural Africa in 2005. She has continued to volunteer in that capacity almost every summer since. In 2007 Carolyn visited Maasai village of Lemong’o in rural Kenya and immediately felt at home. This was where she was meant to be.

During her visit two years later, she noticed an emptiness in the school there. She soon discovered that due to devastating drought, the children were either too weak to attend school or were searching for resources like fertile land for their cattle. It was then that she saw an immediate need for a sustainable solution. With the guidance of the village leaders, she and her fellow volunteer Emma, identified these educational, nutritional and health necessities. Supplied with this information, they founded a free lunch program. This was the only program of its kind in the region at the time. After fundraising, it became clear that there was a need to create and register as a non-profit organization.

Carolyn and Emma formed The Lemong’o Project in 2011, which is based in Anchorage, Alaska. This small, all-volunteer nonprofit organization grew to feed 500 students hot, nutritional lunches daily. Additionally, it pays salaries for three teachers, and meets vital medical needs. Multiple summer clinics provide free exams, medication, eyecare and glasses, lab work, and follow-up on referrals and care.

The organization also purchases handmade jewelry at fair-trade prices from the women of Lemong’o. The purchase of the beadwork directly benefits their families. It is then sold in the United States, mostly at community events. You can find some of the pieces at outdoor markets in Anchorage. Those proceeds are used to fund The Lemong’o Project’s mission.

Carolyn retired from the Anchorage School District in 2017. Her retirement from the State of Alaska has allowed her to dedicate more time to The Legmong’o Project. To learn more about this organization, please visit thelemongoproject.org.

We Want To Hear Your Story!

We want to share your retirement story with your fellow members. Are you volunteering, traveling, involved in the community, or just enjoying life? Let us know where you are living now, what you are involved in, where you were employed, and how your State of Alaska retirement has allowed you to enjoy new adventures in retirement.

Submit your stories on our Retirees in Touch page, or email your stories to .

You can also mail your stories and photos to:

Attention: Newsbreak Editor
State of Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits
333 Willoughby Avenue, 6th Floor
P.O. Box 110203
Juneau, AK 99811-0203.

Retirees In Touch stories are limited to 500 words. Please include your signed media release form, provided on the webpage above, with your submission. The form is necessary for us to publish your story. Thank you.