PERS – Public Employees Retirement System
Full-time
appointments to
exceed six months and half-time appointments
averaging 20 hours per week for one year or longer require membership in the Public
Employee's Retirement System (PERS). The retirement plan is coordinated with
social security, meaning that you are eligible for benefits from the retirement
system as well as full social security benefits. As a member of PERS, you will
contribute 5% of your gross monthly income in excess of $513 (gross income (-)
$513 (x) 5%). For more information about PERS and the CalPERS
system please visit www.calpers.ca.gov
Peace Officer/Fire
Fighters: As a
Public Safety Officer under PERS, you will contribute 8% of your gross monthly
income in excess of $238 (Gross income (-) $238 (x) 8%).
Benefits Into Retirement for PERS Members
Employees are eligible to retire at age 50 with a minimum of five years
of PERS service credit. (Reference PERS-PUB3 (2% at 55). Retirees with questions regarding benefits
and coordination with Medicare should contact CalPERS
at (800) 237-3345.
To carry benefits into retirement, the employee must be benefits
eligible at the time of retirement.
Factors used in determining final compensation into retirement are age,
years of service and highest average twelve-month income. Those who are considering retiring should
contact their local CalPERS office and request a
retirement application. You may check the CalPERS
website for locations at www.calpers.ca.gov.
Workshops are offered at the main offices and occasionally are hosted on
our campus. Lead-time to process
retirement applications should be three months prior to the retirement date.
Employee with less than 20 years of service
have a tax-free lump sum
death benefit of $5000, six months salary, as well as all employee PERS
contributions plus interest. For those with more than 20 years, the benefit is
$5000 plus all employee contributions toward PERS retirement plus
interest. This benefit does not apply to
an employee who is eligible for retirement at time of death. Death benefits for all
retirees is $2000. For additional
information regarding death benefits for retired PERS employees, please call
(877) 720-7277.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Social Security pays benefits when you retire and are age 62 or over,
if eligibility requirements are met. To qualify for retirement benefits, you
must be fully insured; that is you must have the required number of credits
under Social Security. Most employees need 40 credits to qualify for retirement
benefits - or about 10 years of work. Workers born before
1929 need fewer credits. For an exact figure, you need your entire
earnings history, which you can obtain by completing and mailing Form SSA-7004,
available at your local Social Security Office. For questions regarding Social Security benefits
please call (800) 772-1213 or go to their website at www.ssa.gov
Thinking of, or planning to
retire? The following is important
information you need to know:
I’m not
sure if I want to retire. Where can I
get information regarding the process?
May we suggest signing up for a workshop? Periodically
we have retirement workshops presented by a CalPERS
retirement specialist here on University.
Otherwise, you may contact your local retirement office to find out about
workshops off-site. The local
Can I
receive an estimate of what my pension would be at the time of retirement?
Yes, we have CalPERS Retirement Allowance Estimate Request
forms in Human Resources. These take
about six weeks to be processed. You may
also visit the CalPERS website at www.calpers.ca.gov , then
select Retirement Planning Calculator. Please keep in mind should you decide to go ahead and retire, we advise that you complete
your retirement application at least three months in advance to ensure the
retirement division has adequate time to process your request and set up your
benefits. The shorter notice you give
may mean a delay in benefits.
What happens to my benefits?
At the time of retirement if you are; on active pay
status, have at least five years state service, presently benefits eligible and
fifty years of age, then your benefits are “vested.” This means you have met the State
requirements to have a lifetime medical and dental benefit into
retirement. If you retire within 30 days
of separation your benefits automatically transfer over. (If you retire after 120-days from your separation of State
employment you are not eligible to continue your medical and dental benefits.) The only change in benefits would be your
dental transfers to the “basic” coverage and there is no coverage for vision
(unless you are a FERP participant.) You
would continue to have medical coverage for yourself and any eligible
dependents you have on the plan at the time of retirement. If you were a Flexcash
participant, you would be entitled to enroll into the benefits program. The
only cost would be any contribution you would regularly be responsible for as
an active employee (excluding any co-payments and deductibles.)
What
is FERP?
The Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP) is
administered through Faculty Affairs and is offered to faculty members
only. For more information about the
program, please contact Faculty Affairs at (310) 243-3766. As a FERP participant (given the faculty is was eligible for benefits at the time of retirement),
dental benefits remain at the enhanced level while. Additionally, while in the program, the
vision benefit commences with the FERP term.
I’ve decided to retire, now
what do I do?
First, obtain a Stepping Into Retirement from Human Resources or from your local CalPERS Retirement office. Please call (877) 720-7377 for locations. Complete and mail directly to the address listed at the top of the application. You will receive an acknowledgement letter and additional documents that require your attention once your application has been processed. As mentioned before, it is highly advisable to attend a retirement workshop if you haven’t done so already.
How is the University involved?
We understand that there are times when an employee would like to have their retirement kept confidential. However, once you submit your intent to retire it becomes public record. It is your responsibility to notify your department of your intent to retire in writing. Once the application has been processed, CalPERS sends a notification giving us your retirement date. If you retire within 30 days of separation the only document that the University files would be a dental document. This is an administrative document that is sent to the State Controller’s office for processing.
Contact:
WH (
or
send e-mail to bcummins@csudh.edu