Filing Information

• Tier IV members may only elect a Tier IV retirement benefit. If you are a Tier III member, you may elect to receive either Tier III or Tier IV benefits when you file your retirement application; however, you may not combine the provisions of the two plans. Once you elect to receive a benefit under Tier III or Tier IV, your election is irrevocable as of your effective retirement date.
• When you file this application, you must submit proof of your date of birth and, in some cases, your beneficiaries' dates of birth. The following items are considered acceptable proof of date of birth, and only one of the following is required: birth certificate; passport; or naturalization document. If none of these items is available, then two of the following are required: driver's license; certificate of military record; Form SSA-2458 (Report of Confidential Social Security Benefit Information); or other government-issued identification. After you submit this form, you will be directed to a screen where you can upload documents. A Member Services Representative will contact you to review the completeness of your filing.

Electronic Fund Transfer

If you are currently paid on the City of New York payroll through direct deposit for work in a position that entitles you to TRS membership, you will be automatically enrolled to receive your monthly benefit payments (including advance payments) via EFT. You do not need to do anything; these payments will be automatically deposited in your account via EFT.

However, you would need to file an EFT Election at Retirement Form (code BK66 e-form) for any of the following scenarios:

• If you want your monthly benefit payments (including advance payments) to be deposited via EFT in a different account;
• If you are currently paid on the City of New York payroll through direct deposit for work in a position that does not entitle you to TRS membership (e.g., substitute or per diem teacher); or
• If you are not currently paid on the City of New York payroll through direct deposit.

The EFT Election at Retirement Form is located in the in the E-Forms section of this website. To avoid delays in receiving your benefit payments, you should file the EFT Election at Retirement Form along with your retirement application.

For more information, please see the Electronic Fund Transfer brochure.

Retirement Payments

• Generally, TRS may process a retirement benefit within three to five months of your effective retirement date. TRS issues advance payments approximately one to two months after your effective retirement date to provide you with retirement income as soon as possible. You will continue to receive an advance payment every month until your regular retirement allowance is processed and initiated on payroll. For more information, please see the Advance Payments brochure.

Change of Information or Cancellation

• You may change any information on your application after you have submitted it; TRS must receive the changes no later than one business day before your effective retirement date. However, you may change your payment option election up to 30 days after your effective retirement date.
• You may cancel your application by submitting a Cancellation Request Form (code MI5). TRS must receive this form at least one day before your effective retirement date, regardless of the date on which you submitted the form. You may NOT cancel your Service Retirement Application on or after your effective retirement date.

All information must be provided.

Use this section to indicate any additional membership information (e.g., Multiple Employment Membership or Chapter 683 Earnings). Multiple Employment Membership status is assigned to members of TRS who render employment in both primary and secondary TRS-eligible positions during any school year. For more information, please see the Multiple Employment Membership Status brochure.

Chapter 683 earnings apply if you were employed in a Special Education Program, in accordance with Chapter 683 of the Retirement and Social Security Law (RSSL). Please note that confirmation of your Chapter 683 earnings during the summer preceding your retirement may not be available at the time of retirement. TRS will calculate your retirement allowance to include these earnings when confirmation of your Chapter 683 earnings becomes available.

If you are a participant in TRS' Tax-Deferred Annuity (TDA) Program, you must make a decision at this time regarding the distribution of your TDA funds. Skip this part if you do not have a TDA account.

In this section, you may elect to receive your TDA funds as an annuity separate from your QPP retirement allowance; OR withdraw all of your TDA funds; OR defer distribution of your TDA funds to a later date and leave them invested with TRS.

• If you elect to annuitize: You must file the TDA Annuitization Election Form (code TD6) with your retirement application.
• If you elect to withdraw: The additional information you complete in this part means that you do not need to complete a separate TDA Total Withdrawal Application (and Request to Close TDA Account) (code TD32). However, you may want to refer to the Help text for that e-form for full instructions.
• If you elect to defer distribution: The additional information you complete in this part means that you do not need to complete a separate TDA Deferral Status Election Form (code TD30). However, you may want to refer to the Help text for that e-form for full instructions.

You must provide your desired retirement date. Your retirement date must be at least one day later than the date that TRS receives this application, and it cannot be earlier than your 55th birthday. In addition, you must indicate whether you believe you are eligible to receive an unreduced retirement allowance (full benefits) or a reduced retirement allowance.

In general, you would be eligible to receive unreduced retirement allowance payments (full benefits) if one of the following statements applies to you:

• You are at least age 62 as of your retirement date and you are vested (at least 5 years of Total Service Credit); or
• You are at least age 55 as of your retirement date and have attained at least 30 years of Total Service Credit; or
• You are covered by the "55/25" provisions of the Age 55 Retirement Program, are at least age 55 as of your retirement date, and have attained at least 25 years of Total Service Credit; or
• You are covered by the "55/27" provisions of the Age 55 Retirement Program, are at least age 55 as of your retirement date, and have attained at least 27 years of Total Service Credit.

If none of the statements above applies to you, then you do not qualify for unreduced payments of your retirement allowance. However, as long as you are vested and at least 55, you would be eligible to retire with a reduced retirement allowance. See Service Retirement Plans and Benefits for Tiers III/IV for more information about retirement allowance reductions.

Vesting

As a Tier III or Tier IV member, you become vested upon attaining five years of Total Service Credit. (Prior to Chapter 56 of the Laws of 2022, certain Tier VI members needed 10 years of Total Service Credit to become vested. Chapter 56 changed this requirement to 5 years.)

Age 55 Retirement Program^

• Members whose TRS membership began on or before February 27, 2008 and who opted into the program are covered by the "55/25" provisions.
• Members whose TRS membership began after February 27, 2008 and on or before December 10, 2009 are covered by the "55/27" provisions. (Also, certain members whose TRS membership began on or before February 27, 2008 were eligible to opt into the program under the "55/27" provisions.)
• Members whose TRS membership began after December 10, 2009 and before April 1, 2012 (sometimes known as "Chapter 504" participants) are automatically covered by the "55/27" provisions.

^The Age 55 Retirement Program was established for employees of the Department of Education or participating Charter Schools only, and it is no longer available for members to opt in.

Note for members who participated in the Age 55 Retirement Program: If you are 62 or older at retirement, you may be eligible for the return of the employee portion of the Additional Member Contributions (AMCs) you made under this program, plus accrued interest. To receive these funds, you must: a) retire with unreduced payments; b) be in active service at least one day prior to your effective date of retirement; and c) have been in active service for a total of at least six months out of each of the two twelve-month periods preceding your retirement.

If you qualify for a return of AMC funds, you would receive a separate payment from TRS; you do not need to take further action. However, please note two exceptions:

1. If you want this refund directly rolled over to an eligible Individual Retirement Arrangement or other successor program you must file the Application for Withdrawal of Additional Member Contributions at Retirement (code RW116) and the QPP Direct Rollover Election Form (code RW29) at this time.
2. If you have an outstanding QPP loan balance that you do not repay before retirement, TRS will offset your loan balance against the AMC refund—resulting in a lower (or zero) AMC refund amount. If you want to receive the full AMC refund and leave your QPP loan balance unpaid at retirement (which will result in a permanent reduction to your retirement allowance), you must file the Application for Withdrawal of Additional Member Contributions at Retirement at this time.

When designating beneficiaries on this form, please provide their Social Security numbers (or alternative taxpayer ID numbers). This information will help TRS process any benefits that later become payable without unnecessary delay.

Fractional Payment

You must designate a beneficiary to receive any fractional payment that may be due for the month in which you die. This fractional payment would be payable provided that you do not die on the last day of the month; the payment would be based on the number of days that you are alive during that month.

Death Benefit #2

You must also designate a beneficiary to receive Death Benefit #2, a lump-sum, post-retirement death benefit. The amount of this death benefit would be based on the death benefit in force on your retirement date (a maximum equaling three years’ salary, subject to age reductions). The actual amount payable to your beneficiary would also depend on the amount of time between your retirement date and your death, as shown in the table below.

Please note the following about these two separate death benefits:

• If you want to designate the same beneficiaries to receive your fractional payment and the Death Benefit #2, you can use the COPY FRACTIONAL BENEFICIARIES TO DB2 button, and you won’t have to enter the information twice.
• If you want to designate additional beneficiaries, you may do so online by filing the Retiring Member's Additional QPP Beneficiary Form (code EN22) with your retirement application.
• The beneficiary you designate to receive your fractional payment or Death Benefit #2 benefit need not be the same beneficiary as you designate in Part F.
• If your beneficiary predeceases you, the fractional payment or Death Benefit #2 benefit would be made to your estate unless you designate another beneficiary for this payment.
• If you have already established a trust, you may designate your trust as your beneficiary.
• You may change your fractional beneficiary designation at any time after you file the Tier IV Service Retirement Application by filing a Designation of QPP Fractional Beneficiary Form (code EN24) online.
• You may change your Death Benefit #2 beneficiary designation at any time after you file the Tier IV Service Retirement Application in the secure section of our website.

You must elect ONLY ONE payment option in Part F for your retirement allowance and designate beneficiaries if your payment option includes that provision. In all cases, you would receive your retirement allowance each month for as long as you live. If you want to provide for beneficiaries, you have several choices, each of which would reduce the amount of your monthly retirement allowance. For additional information, please see the Retirement Payment Options: Tiers III/lV/VI brochure.

When designating beneficiaries on this form, please provide their Social Security numbers (or alternative taxpayer ID numbers) and as much contact information as possible. This information will help TRS process any benefits that later become payable without unnecessary delay. If you want to designate additional beneficiaries, you can do so by completing the Retiring Member's Additional QPP Beneficiary Form (code EN22) and filing it with your retirement application.

Please note that you may designate a trust only for lump-sum payments.

Your payment options are categorized as follows:

If you elect a Continuing Payment or Pop-up Option:

• These options provide for one primary beneficiary only. You may not change this beneficiary designation after your initial payability date; you may not designate a trust as your beneficiary.
• Your beneficiary’s age is a factor in computing the amount of your monthly retirement allowance payments; therefore, you must submit proof of your beneficiary's date of birth in conjunction with this application.

After reading the Terms & Conditions, check the box, and then enter your full name.