06/02/2022
Do you know anyone who was a public school teacher for a short while and then switched to a private school or changed careers?
Teachers who left public school employment before becoming vested may have forgotten that they are eligible for a refund of their Retirement System contributions. We want to get those funds into the hands of their rightful owners, and you can help.
We’ve used every known avenue to locate these former members, their beneficiaries or their estates and we’ve come up empty. But they are your former co-workers and friends, so you may know where they are.
Visit the Unclaimed Funds link on the bottom menu of our website. Then you can search two separate lists — abandoned accounts and unclaimed accounts. You can search for a particular person by last name, or you can search by last known teaching location and see if you spot anyone you know from your own school district.
If you find people you know, please contact them or their families and encourage them to call us at (800) 348-7298, Ext. 6090. There is no time limit for claiming an abandoned or unclaimed account.
An unclaimed account contains funds from teachers who contribute to the System but leave public sector work before they are vested in the Retirement System. If the accounts are not withdrawn within 18 months, they are added to the abandoned accounts list and held until the former member, or their beneficiary or estate, claims them.
There are currently more than 13,000 abandoned accounts and the average balance is $1,780.