No. Employee contribution rates are set by law. Since your retirement benefits are calculated according to a formula, increasing your contributions will not increase your retirement allowance. If you wish to increase your retirement savings, ask your department payroll clerk about enrolling in the deferred compensation plans offered by the County. The deferred compensation plan is not connected with ACERA in any way.

No. Retirement contributions rates are based on your age at entrance into the retirement system. However, if you wish to increase your retirement savings, contact Risk Management (County) or your Personnel department (districts) for information about enrolling in the deferred compensation plans they may offer. Please keep in mind that these alternative plans are not affiliated with StanCERA in any way.

You can direct contributions to two investment companies, TIAA-CREF and/or Fidelity Investments These two investment companies offer a full range of diversified aggressive to conservative investment funds. Voluntary (unmatched) or Supplemental contributions may be directed by employees enrolling in the plan for the first time to the Group Supplemental Retirement Annuity (GSRA) contract offered by TIAA-CREF. Voluntary Contributions may also be directed to any Fidelity mutual fund.

A Change of Beneficiary form must be completed and notarized. This form can be obtained and notarized in the Benefits unit.

No, at this time, no loan provisions are allowed with the State Retirement Systems. However, there may be loan provisions through supplemental retirement plans such as 401(k) and 403(b).

There may be an annuity increase (or decrease) applied to your annuity payment each May 1, based on the previous year’s investment results. The fixed annuity adjustment is applied to the fixed portion of your annuity, and if you participate in the variable fund, a variable adjustment is applied to the variable portion of your annuity.

Upon termination of employment the member may withdraw all contributions and refundable interest.

If you were on a full-time temporary position and are being converted to a full-time permanent position, DFAS-Charleston will send you a letter with a form to elect a repayment plan. If you were not employed or were part time or intermittent and are being converted to a full time permanent position, the retro payments will be deducted from any back pay you are owed. This aspect is the responsibility of our payroll office and you must work with them directly.

employee will pay income tax on contributions and earnings only when they are distributed from the plan. Contributions will not be included in an employee's income reported to the federal, state, or local governments for income tax purposes when they are made to a plan. However, the employee and Indiana University must pay employment taxes (i.e., Social Security taxes) on contributions when they are made to the plan.

A member may make extra contributions by waiving the ITHP (Increased-Take-Home-Pay), currently at 5%, tax deferred. This form is available from the Police Pension website or you can click here to access it.

All post-retirement increases are provided by action of the North Carolina General Assembly and/or the Board of Trustees governing the Retirement System. Although post-retirement increases are not guaranteed, they are typically provided at July 1 of each year and are paid as a percentage increase in benefits.

Refer to page 2 of your statement for contact information for your retirement system (OPERS, STRS or ARP company).

In Ontario, your ability to take money from a locked-in retirement account is subject to certain rules set out in the Pension Benefits Act. Normally you must wait until 10 years prior to being eligible to start your pension, usually at age 55, before receiving a payment from your locked-in retirement plan. It should be noted that there are minimum and maximum limits on how much you can receive in any one year.

You cannot borrow from your mandatory retirement account. You may only borrow money from your supplemental retirement account. You will need to contact the Supplemental Retirement Vendor directly. Vendor information is available on the HRS website.

No, a member may not borrow from or withdraw their contributions and interest while they are an active County or Member District employee. The money in your retirement account is for retirement savings and can only be accessed if you terminate County employment. Termination and immediate rehire for the purpose of withdrawing contributions and interest is not allowed and is a federal violation.

No. ACERA is required to protect the confidentiality of member records. Questions about your account cannot be answered without your written consent or under court action. The purchase of additional service credit may be made by lump sum payment or through payroll deductions for a period not to exceed five (5) years, depending upon the type of service purchased.

Yes, except for the portion of your benefit based on the contributions in your account that were actually paid by you from after-tax dollars, your entire benefit is subject to federal and state income tax. If you reside in another state your lump sum or monthly benefit would be subject to the state income tax laws in your state of residence. A Tax Liability on WRS Benefits brochure is available that provides information about federal and Wisconsin state income tax liabilities.

If you want to roll into an IRA, money from your Roth account in a 401(k) or 403(b) must be rolled into a Roth IRA. The rest of your account balance can be rolled into a Traditional IRA. If you want to roll your money into your new employer’s plan, ask your new employer if you’re eligible and if the plan accepts rollovers. You can’t roll over money from Roth accounts into plans that don’t offer the Roth option.

Again, it is important to speak with your tax advisor or attorney about your personal situation. In general, during your lifetime, whenever you take money out of your tax-deferred account (IRA, 401(k), 403(b), etc.), the distribution is considered income to you and is a taxable event. Therefore, you would have to pay the taxes due upon the value of the distributed assets and the remaining money would go to the charitable organization.