Congratulations on your retirement!

The time has come and you are ready to enjoy this new and exciting stage of your life.

You've taken the first step in collecting your New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS) benefit by filing your retirement application. Now there are several additional steps NYSTRS needs to take before the retirement process is complete.

This brochure will walk you through those steps, so put on some comfortable shoes and let's begin the journey!

Some common errors or omissions:

• The selection of an ineligible date of retirement.
• Missing or incomplete information.
• Notarization is missing or invalid.
• More than one payment choice is selected. (Note: If a payment option is not selected and you do not indicate your choice to us within 30 days, you will automatically receive the Maximum benefit.)
• Beneficiary information is incomplete or unclear when an option is selected.
• Direct deposit or withholding information is incomplete.

When it's determined your application is complete, we enter the data into our pension administration system.

At this point, we contact your most-recent employer(s) and request your:

• Last date of employment;
• Contract salary for the most-recent year;
• Salary earned for service performed under contract;
• Salary earned for additional duties (e.g., coaching, chaperoning, clubs, etc.);
• Payments for unused leave; and,
• Local retirement incentives.

At the same time we're requesting information from your employer(s), we are taking steps to ensure you receive your first interim monthly payment. In most cases, this monthly payment will be within percentage points of your final payment amount and will remain unchanged until your retirement is finalized and your benefit is recalculated.

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Generally, if we receive your retirement application at least 30 days before your date of retirement, you should receive your first payment at the end of the month in which your retirement date falls. If we receive your application closer to your retirement date, your first two payments would likely be made together at the end of the following month.

All benefit payments are made through direct deposit and reach your account on the last business day of the month.

There are two exceptions to this schedule for those who retire before age 55:

• If you are a Tier 1 member retiring before age 55 with 35 or more years of service, your employer(s) must certify the 35th year of service before payments can begin.
• If you retire before age 55 under a NYS early retirement incentive, your employer(s) must certify that you are eligible for the incentive before payments can begin.

Now that you are on schedule to receive interim monthly payments, we begin the process of finalizing your retirement application. As previously noted, we have already contacted your employer(s) and asked for certain information about your most-recent employment. We then look back at your employment history and:

1. Verify that our records match the reports we received from your employers;
2. Ensure salary was correctly reported and categorized by those employers, and;
3. Contact your former employers if we require further clarification or justification about information that was reported to us.

While this may not seem like a particularly lengthy list of tasks, please keep in mind that we process 8,000 to 12,000 retirement applications annually. With baby boomers retiring at record rates, these figures may actually grow in the coming years. As a result, processing all these files in a timely fashion – while a high priority – becomes much more challenging.

How quickly we receive replies from your employer(s) – and how thorough they are – also impacts the schedule. While employers are typically diligent in responding, it sometimes takes them longer to retrieve historical files necessary to provide the required verification. If information we receive is incomplete, we need to find other means for filling in the blanks.

Even though you will receive monthly benefit payments from NYSTRS within weeks of your retirement date, we understand your desire for a speedy conclusion to the retirement process. If the processing of your application will exceed 12 months, we'll update you about the status of your application.

You can also track the processing of your retirement application in your personal Secure Area account at www.nystrs.org. If you haven't already registered to access your benefit information online, doing so is quick and easy.

We will notify you in writing, and in your online Secure Area account, when the processing of your retirement application is complete. Included in the letter will be a Summary of Retirement Data, which outlines your benefit and how it was calculated. Your Secure Area account will also list your service credit, final average salary and benefit payment information.

Once your retirement is finalized, you will receive, in the form of a retroactive payment, any money owed to you over and above the payments you had been receiving. So the deposit following the finalization of your retirement will be comprised of your new monthly benefit amount plus a lump-sum adjustment representing the difference between the interim monthly payments and the recalculated, final monthly payment – times the number of months you received the interim amount.

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Your NYSTRS retirement benefit is:

• Exempt from New York State income tax.
• Reportable and taxable for federal income tax purposes.
• Not subject to Social Security or Medicare taxes.

You may have federal taxes withheld from your monthly payments, or you may make quarterly estimated tax payments. You can change your withholding at any time by submitting a new Federal Tax Withholding Form (W-4P) to the System. Each January, we will inform you of the gross and taxable amounts of your retirement benefit, as well as withholding tax, if any, that must be reported to the IRS.

If you move to another state in retirement, your benefit will be subject to that state's tax laws. Learn more about other states' tax laws at www.1040.com.

In general, if you joined NYSTRS on or after July 1, 1973, your in-service death benefit may continue in part after retirement – provided you are not otherwise gainfully employed between the date you stop teaching and your retirement date. In the event of your death, payments would be made to an eligible beneficiary as follows:

• First year of retirement: 50% of the death benefit in effect at retirement.
• Second year: 25% of the death benefit at retirement.
• Third year and thereafter: 10% of the death benefit at age 60 or at retirement if earlier.

Please ensure your death benefit beneficiary designation is up-to-date.

If you switch banks or change the account to which your benefit is direct deposited, either:

1. Immediately complete and file with the System a new Direct Deposit Authorization Agreement, available on our Web site at www.nystrs.org or by calling the System's Hotline at (800) 782-0289. Return the form to NYSTRS by mail or fax to (518) 447-4749; or,
2. Mail or fax us a letter with your signature and EmplID requesting the change. Be sure to include a voided check from your new banking institution with the letter.

If you use a brokerage firm that clears payments through a bank, please provide the bank's name, account number and ABA (a.k.a., routing number).

Be sure to sign all correspondence sent to the System. Unless there is a Power of Attorney or court-appointed guardian on file with NYSTRS, no one else may sign for you.

Bank or account changes must be received at NYSTRS by the 10th of the month in order to take effect for that month's payment.

Contact Us
Online Visit our Web site at www.nystrs.org for the latest NYSTRS and retirement benefit news, and to print System publications and forms. Review your benefit information in your personal Secure Area account.
By Phone Call our Hotline at (800) 782-0289 for the latest news and to request System forms. Call (800) 356-3128 to speak with a System representative.
By Mail Write to us at: New York State Teachers' Retirement System 10 Corporate Woods Drive Albany, NY 12211-2395

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