The monthly unit values used to value (in dollars) any investments in the variable-return Passport Funds depend on your membership status when filing for your withdrawal, as explained below:

• In most cases, the unit values used would be the unit values in effect for the month after TRS’ receipt of your withdrawal request.
• If you are filing to withdraw your TDA Program funds in conjunction with your separation from service, but after the withdrawal of your Qualified Pension Plan (QPP) accumulations, the unit values used generally would be the unit values in effect for the month after TRS’ receipt of your Application for Withdrawal of QPP Accumulations (code RW41) or TRS Membership Transfer Form (code RW39). However, if you are a non-vested member who filed to withdraw your QPP funds before the date you separated from service, the unit values used would be the unit values in effect for the month after your separation from service.
• If you are filing to withdraw your TDA Program funds after your TRS membership rights expired, the funds in these accounts stopped accruing interest and/or investment return on the date your membership rights expired (i.e., seven school years after your separation from service). The unit values used would be the unit values in effect for the month after that seven-year anniversary date.

For both QPP and TDA loans, the maximum loan amount available to you is based on factors such as your account balance, your service credit, your current outstanding loan balance, and your highest loan balance during the previous 12 months. You may learn the maximum loan amount that you may borrow by logging in to the secure section of our website. Members may also write to TRS to obtain this information at any time; if you do so, please include your membership number in your correspondence.

Loans are normally repaid through payroll deductions, although several exceptions apply. Alternatively, members can make loan payments or pay off a loan in the secure section of our website. You may also request to repay your outstanding loan in a lump sum by filing a QPP Loan Repayment Request Form (code LO11q) and/or TDA Loan Repayment Request Form (code LO11t) with TRS. If you are a member with TDA Deferral status, you must make direct monthly TDA loan payments to TRS.

You may transfer the amount of your outstanding QPP loan if you are transferring your membership to one of the following retirement systems: the New York City Board of Education Retirement System; the New York City Employees' Retirement System; the New York State Teachers' Retirement System; or the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System. In addition, if you are transferring your membership to the Board of Education Retirement System, you may transfer your outstanding TDA loan balance. The other retirement systems previously mentioned currently do not maintain a TDA loan program; therefore, your TDA loan balance cannot be transferred.

If your loan is not fully repaid within five years, it is considered in default, and TRS would ask you to make a lump-sum repayment within 30 days. If you do not repay the amount within 30 days, the loan would become a taxable distribution and would be reported to the IRS. If you are not in active service, your loan would also go into default after you miss three scheduled monthly payments or, if you are a Tier I or II member with a QPP loan, after you miss one quarterly payment. If a TDA loan goes into default, tax consequences may include an IRS-imposed 10% penalty and an additional 20% withholding applied to any TDA funds you receive later that year.

You would be eligible to become a transferred contributor to TRS if you: a) obtain a position enabling you to gain membership in a New York City retirement system within 60 days of your separation from service; and b) do not withdraw your accumulated QPP contributions; and c) file a Transferred Contributor Election Form (code EN17) within seven school years of your separating from service. Similarly, if you are a member of another New York City retirement system and obtain a TRS-eligible position, you may elect to remain in your current retirement system by filing an Affidavit for Non-TRS Transferred Contributors (code EN40).

This means that you have not yet met your minimum accumulation requirement. There are several reasons why this might be true: you may not have contributed for 20 years; you may have been contributing at less than your certified rate; or you may have elected FICA Class C, which means that your pension deductions are being applied to both your pension and your Social Security, thus resulting in a lower QPP contribution rate.

For both QPP and TDA loans, the maximum loan amount available to you is based on factors such as your account balance, your service credit, your current outstanding loan balance, and your highest loan balance during the previous 12 months. You may learn the maximum loan amount that you may borrow by logging in to the secure section of our website. Members may also write to TRS to obtain this information at any time; if you do so, please include your membership number in your correspondence.