New York State Employees’ Retirement System (NYSERS)
SUNY Benefits Page
NYSERS provides retirement, disability, and death benefits to the non-exempt
employees of the New York State Colleges at Cornell University and Cornell
Cooperative Extension county associations, called contract colleges, as
legislated under New York State retirement law. Participation in this
program is mandatory for contract college nonexempt employees working
full-time for at least 12 months. Exempt employees working full-time for
at least 12 months for the NYS Colleges at Cornell University must elect
to participate in NYSERS or the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP).
Benefit Formula
An individual participating in the NYSERS retirement program is provided
coverage under one of the four available tiers. New hires who are not
previous members of NYSERS will become Tier 4 members. To determine which
tier you may be in and the corresponding benefit to that tier see the
chart below.
| Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 | |
| Membership Date | Prior to July 1, 1973 | Between July 1, 1973 & July 26, 1976 | Between July 27, 1976 & Aug. 31, 1983 | On or after Sept. 1, 1983 |
| 100% Vested |
Immediately (may require 5 years of service) |
After 5 years
of retire- ment service credit |
After 5 years
of retire- ment service credit |
After 5 years
of retire- ment service credit |
| Your Contribution | None | None | 3% of gross salary for 10 years | 3% of gross salary for 10 years |
| Retirement Date | Full Benefits at age 55 | Full benefits at age 62, or at age 55 with at least 30 years of credited service, reduced benefits at age 55. | Full benefits at age 62, or at age 55 with at least 30 years of credited service, reduced benefits at age 55. | Full benefits at age 62, or at age 55 with at least 30 years of credited service, reduced benefits at age 55. |
| Benefit Amount * | Full benefits: | Full benefits: | Full benefits: | |
| With 20 years of service: 2% of your FAS** times your years of credited service. 75% FAS cap | With 20 years of service: 2% of your FAS** times your years of credited service. 75% FAS cap | With 20 years of service: 2% of your FAS** times your years of credited service <=30 + 1.5%*FAS*years of service>30 | With 20 years of service: 2% of your FAS** times your years of credited service <=30 + 1.5%*FAS*years of service>30 | |
| Reduced benefits: | Reduced benefits: | Reduced benefits: | ||
| Less than 20 years of service: 1.66% times your FAS ** times your years of credited service. | Less than 20 years of service: 1.66% times your FAS ** times your years of credited service. | Less than 20 years of service: 1.66% times your FAS ** times your years of credited service. | Less than 20 years of service: 1.66% times your FAS ** times your years of credited service. | |
| * Additional limits may apply to benefit amounts listed | ||||
| ** Final Average Salary is generally the average of the wages earned during the three highest consecutive years of service. | ||||
Years of service is generally the full time years of credited member service you accrue while an active member of NYSERS.
At retirement, you must decide how you want your retirement allowance paid. All of the options provide you with a monthly benefit payable for life. Optional forms of benefit distribution are as follows.
| Single Life Allowance (available to all tiers) |
| This option provides for the payment of the maximum benefit to you each month for the rest of your life. However, the payments will cease at your death. |
| Option 1 (available only to tier 1) |
| Under this option, you will receive a reduced monthly allowance payable for your lifetime. It guarantees that if you die before receiving retirement allowance payments which equal the initial value of your allowance, the balance of the initial value will be paid to your beneficiary or estate in a lump sum. The initial value is the value of your retirement allowance at the time of retirement. If you die after the initial value amount has been paid to you, no benefit is payable to your beneficiary. |
| Option ½ (available only to Tier 1 & 2 members with contributions on deposit) |
| This option provides a reduced monthly benefit payable for your lifetime. At your death, if any unpaid balance of your accumulated contributions remains, it will be paid to your beneficiary or estate. Payments cease at your death if all contributions have been paid. |
| Joint Allowance – Full (available to all tiers) |
| At retirement, this option will provide you with a reduced monthly retirement allowance for you and your beneficiaries’ lifetime. When you die, your beneficiary will receive the same monthly amount for life. If your beneficiary dies before you, all benefit payments will cease at your death. Payments will only cease when you and your beneficiary have died. |
| Joint Allowance – Half (available only to tiers 1 & 2) |
| This option guarantees that after your death, your beneficiary will receive monthly payments equal to ½ the amount you were receiving. The amount you were receiving would be a reduced monthly benefit. If your beneficiary dies before you, all payments cease at your death. |
| Joint Allowance – Partial (available only to tiers 3 & 4) |
| This option is based on your life expectancy and the life expectancy of your beneficiary. This is a reduced lifetime allowance that pays a specific percentage which you select (such as 75%, 50% or 25% of your benefit) to your beneficiary for his or her lifetime after your death. If your beneficiary dies before you, all payments cease at your death. |
| Pop-Up/Joint Allowance-Full or Half (available to all tiers) |
| Under this option if you die before your beneficiary, NYSERS will continue paying the reduced monthly amount or ½ that amount, depending on which option you elect, to your beneficiary for life. If your beneficiary dies first, your allowance will be increased to the amount you would have received if you had selected the Single Life Allowance at retirement and all payments will stop at your death. |
| Five Year and Ten Year Certain (available to all tiers) |
| These options provide a reduced monthly lifetime income for you with the additional guarantee that if you live for less than 5 or 10 years after retirement, depending on which option you elect, payments in the same amount will be made to your beneficiary for the balance of the 5 or 10 year period. You may change your beneficiary with these options. |
| Alternative Options (available to all tiers) |
| If the options described above do not meet your needs, the Retirement System will consider written requests for other methods of payment. Such requests must be outlined in detail by you and than must be approved by the System for legal and actuarial soundness. |
Disability Benefits
If you are unable to perform your duties because of physical or mental
incapacity, you may be eligible for a disability retirement benefit. If
your disability results from an on-the-job accident, not due to your own
negligence, there is no minimum service requirement. Otherwise, for tier
1, 2 & 4 you need 10 years of credited service to receive the Ordinary
Disability Benefit. For tier 3 you need 5 years of credited service and
you must have been awarded Primary Social Security Disability Benefits
to receive the Ordinary Disability Benefit.
Death Benefits
If you die in covered service, not as a result of an on-the-job accident,
your beneficiary may be entitled to an ordinary death benefit. Up to $50,000
of this benefit is paid in the form of group term life insurance which
is exempt from federal income tax under present ruling. Your accumulated
contributions are also payable to your beneficiary.
For tier 1 the benefit is 1/12 of your last year’s earnings multiplied by your years of credited service up to 36 years or 3 times your last year’s salary rounded to the next highest $1,000.00. After age 55 your death benefit is equal to the initial value of your pension benefits.
For tiers 2, 3 & 4 the benefit is your salary multiplied by your service not to exceed three years of salary. Beginning at age 61 Death Benefit 2 will be reduced by 4% each year, but not below 60% of the original benefit. There is a post retirement death benefit with this option.
Loans
Tier 1 members may apply for a loan against their accumulated contributions
if they have contributed towards their retirement benefits, have at least
one year of credited service, are still on payroll, and have not taken
a loan within the past 90 days.
Tier 3 & 4 members who have at least one year of member service credit and are actively employed are eligible to borrow from the Retirement System. You must have a balance of at least $1,334. Loans must be for a minimum of $1,000 and cannot be more than 75% of your member contribution balance. You repay the loan by payroll deductions within five years. Loan payments must be at least 2% of your salary. You may borrow only once in a 12 month period. Loans in excess of $10,000 may be subject to federal income tax. Loans should be paid back prior to retirement or termination to avoid taxation of the outstanding loan balance and/or reduction of retirement benefits.
For more information on your retirement benefits please visit the New York State Employees’ Retirement System.
Getting Credit for Previous Public Service
You may be able to obtain credit for your previous public employment.
It is very important that you claim all the service you are entitled to receive,
as early as possible, because records documenting your previous service may
become lost or destroyed with the passage of time.
Prior Service
This is any period of time you received salary from a participating employer
before that employer elected to participate in the Retirement System. To receive
this credit, you must earn at least two years of credited service as a Retirement
System member.
Service Before Your Date of Membership
You may receive credit for working for a public employer in New York State before
you joined the Retirement system. To obtain the credit, you must earn at least
two years of credited service as a Retirement System member.
Military Service
You may be able to receive credit for some or all of your military service.
To determine your eligibility, please send a copy of your Report of Transfer
or Discharge Record (DD-214) to NYSERS, 110 State Street, Albany, NY 12294.
For more information about one of the programs, Article 20, that allows for
military service credit go to the NYSERS
website.
Service from a Previous Membership
If you previously were a member of NYSERS, or another public retirement
system in New York State, your service may be recredited and your date of membership
and tier changed. NYSERS will initiate reinstatement to Tier 3 or an earlier
date within Tier 3 or 4 by sending you information about your eligibility and
giving you the opportunity to purchase credit for your withdrawn service. If
your previous Tier 3 or 4 membership was with another retirement system, please
write to NYSERS Member & Employer Services Bureau. For reinstatement to
Tier 1 or Tier 2, you must send NYSERS a completed Application to Reinstate
a Former Tier 1 or 2 Membership (RS 5506). You can get this form from either
NYSERS or Benefit
Services.
Payment of a Service Credit
As a Tier 3 or 4 member, you will usually be required to pay for service currently
not credited to you. These payments are known as "arrears." There
are two kinds of arrears: mandatory and optional. Mandatory arrears are required
for service you earned as a member but for which you made no (or insufficient)
contributions. Optional arrears are payments you choose to make to purchase
credit for a period of previous or military service. Once you have made payment
and have accrued two years of service credit as a member, you can receive that
credit. Before you purchase optional arrears, though, you must pay for any outstanding
mandatory arrears.
Applying for Previous Service Credit
To receive credit for any type of previous service, send a written request (which
must be received before your effective date of retirement) to NYSERS Member
& Employer Services Bureau. Please include as much information as you can
about the period of employment you are seeking to receive credit for. We will
determine your eligibility to receive the credit and any cost involved.
By requesting credit for your previous public employment as early in your career as possible:
- It will be less expensive than if you wait to purchase it at a later date.
- You will stop making the 3% contribution sooner.
- Your retirement benefit will be processed more quickly if your service credit is in order.
- If your purchased service brings your total credited service to 10 or more years, you will no longer be eligible to withdraw your contributions and end your membership.