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New York State and Local Retirement System

Transferring or Terminating Your Membership

Transfers

Some members who join our Retirement System are still members of another public retirement system in New York State. If this applies to you, you may be eligible to transfer that membership to us. You must be off the payroll for the covered employment in the other system and make a request to the other system while you are still an active member of that system. When the transfer is completed, your date of membership will be changed to the date of membership of the Retirement System from which you transferred, if it’s earlier than your current date of membership. If applicable, your membership tier will also change.

In most instances, you will be credited with the transferred service. Exceptions include:

  • Some special retirement plans which require service in a particular title. For example, police and fire plans requiring 20 or 25 years of service. Although the transferred service is allowable for meeting vesting, disability and death benefit requirements, the service may not be used toward the required 20 or 25 years needed in a special plan.
  • Situations where you had a full-time position in our retirement system and a part-time position in another system at the same time. Only one year of service credit is allowable in a fiscal year, so no additional service credit would be given for the part-time employment.

Under these circumstances it may not be beneficial to transfer your membership, and it may be better to determine if you are eligible for a benefit or withdrawal from the other system. If you have questions regarding the effects of membership transfer on your benefits you should Contact Us.

You may transfer membership within the following New York State public retirement systems:

  • New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System
  • New York State Local Police and Fire Retirement System
  • New York State Teachers’ Retirement System
  • New York City Employees’ Retirement System
  • New York City Teachers’ Retirement System
  • New York City Police Pension Fund
  • New York City Fire Department Pension Fund
  • New York City Board of Education Retirement System

New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System members may also transfer their membership to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Pension Fund.

Transferring your Membership

To transfer your service to another New York State public retirement system you need to complete an Application for Transfer of Membership (RS5223) Adobe pdf.

In most cases, transfers are irrevocable, but PFRS members covered by sections 381-b (State Police) or 384-d (20-year plan) of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL), who transferred an ERS membership to PFRS, can now transfer it back. Chapter 390, Laws of 2009, allows a previous transfer to be reversed, reinstating the ERS membership and service credit. Prior to this law, transfers were irrevocable.

To reverse a previous transfer you need to complete an Application for Transfer of Membership in Accordance with Chapter 390 (PF5467) Adobe pdf.

If you had been in an ERS contributory plan and withdrew your contributions when you transferred that membership, you must repay the required contributions with interest.

Your membership terminates when:

  • You have less than five years of service credit and have not worked in covered public service for at least seven years;
  • You have less than ten years of service credit, leave public employment for at least 15 days and voluntarily withdraw your membership and contributions;
  • You transfer your membership to another public retirement system in New York State;
  • You retire;
  • You die.

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Withdrawal

Tier 3 and Tier 4 members:

  • If you leave public employment with less than five years of credited service, you may choose to terminate your membership and withdraw your accumulated contributions plus interest. If you do not terminate your membership, once seven years have elapsed since your last public employment, your membership will terminate automatically as required by the retirement law. You can receive a refund of your contributions by filing a Withdrawal Application (RS5014) Adobe pdf. Note that interest on your contributions ceases after seven years of inactivity.
  • If you leave public employment with at least five, but less than ten, years of credited service, you may choose to:
    • terminate your membership and withdraw your accumulated contributions plus interest; or
    • leave your contributions in your account and qualify for a retirement benefit when you are age 55.
  • To help you decide which would be more beneficial, go to our Benefit Projection Calculator.
  • If you have ten or more years of credited service, you cannot withdraw from the New York State and Local Retirement System.

Tier 5 members:

  • If you leave public employment with less than ten years of credited service, you may choose to terminate your membership and withdraw your accumulated contributions plus interest. If you do not terminate your membership, once seven years have elapsed since your last public employment, your membership will terminate automatically as required by retirement law. You can receive a refund of your contributions by filing a Withdrawal Application (RS5014) Adobe pdf. Note that interest on your contributions ceases after seven years of inactivity.
  • If you have ten or more years of credited service, you cannot withdraw from the New York State and Local Retirement System.

At the time of withdrawal you can choose to have the taxable portion of your withdrawal payment made as a direct rollover to an IRA, or to your new employer’s plan if that plan accepts rollovers.

To withdraw your membership, complete a Withdrawal Application (RS5014) Adobe pdf.

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