Series 50: Other Postemployment Benefits

Other Postemployment Benefits

Other postemployment benefits (OPEB) include any retirement benefit outside of a pension for employees of either state or local governments. These often include things like health insurance or life insurance that will occur after an employee has retired. OPEB may also include dental and vision insurance, prescription drugs, and legal advice. As with pension plans, OPEB can be divided into defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. There are also single- and multiple-employer OPEB plans.

The GASB requires that these benefits be accounted for the same way as pension plans, which is to say that they are treated as yearly earnings for the employee, even though they will not be paid out until after retirement. The municipality must determine the present value of the future benefits and include that information in its RSI. These valuations are generally calculated by