When Are You Fully Vested in Your Retirement Plan? For PERF, TRF, and LE DC Members

Understanding vesting helps you know when your benefits become a part of your future.

“Vested” – A term you often hear when discussing retirement, but what does it mean?

Becoming vested means, you have earned the right to receive your retirement benefits through your years of service. Once you're vested, those benefits are all yours! Being vested looks a little different for each plan that INPRS offers. The type of plan you're in determines how many years it will take for you to be vested.

PERF and TRF Hybrid Plans

• After 10 years of creditable service, you are vested and may begin receiving your benefits at age 65.
  • Certain elected officials in the PERF Hybrid plan are fully vested after eight years of service.
• You are vested immediately for your contributions to your defined contribution account; however, there are restrictions on distributions.

Hybrid members may apply for a regular (unreduced) retirement benefit if:

• Age 65 or older with at least 10 years of service credit
• Between age 60 and 64 with at least 15 years of service credit, or
• Between age 55 and 59, if age and service credit total at least 85 (“Rule of 85”)

Members between ages 50-59 with 15 years of service may be able to retire early but for a reduced benefit amount.

PERF and TRF My Choice Plans

Members are 100% vested in employer, or variable rate, contributions after 5 years of qualifying service and are 100% vested in their 3% fixed contribution and any rollover contributions. Members may begin to use the vested balance of their benefits at age 62.

The vesting schedule for employer contributions is as follows:

• One year = 20% vested
• Two years = 40% vested
• Three years = 60% vested
• Four years = 80% vested
• Five years = 100% vested

PERF My Choice: Vesting is earned with each employer, so if you leave your job before vesting in 100% of your employer contributions, you will forfeit the non-vested amount. If you begin working for another employer offering PERF My Choice, you will retain your years of participation. For example, if you complete two years with your first employer, you keep 40% of the employer contributions when you leave. When you begin working for your second employer, you’ll start vesting at the three years of participation level of the vesting schedule, meaning you’ll only need to work for three more years to become 100% vested in your second employers’ contributions.

TRF My Choice: Your place on the vesting schedule will transfer from one employer to the next provided you do not take a distribution from your TRF My Choice account. That means that if you work for school one for three years and then take a job with school two, you will only need to work at school two for two years to be 100% vested in all employer contributions in your TRF My Choice plan.

Reaching vested status in your plan is more than just an achievement; it’s a sign that your hard work is paying off and your future is taking shape. Knowing when you will be vested will help you make confident decisions about your career and retirement plan.

Ensure you understand the timeline so that you’re ready when your time comes!

For more information about your vested status, refer to the member handbooks available on our website here.

To speak to someone directly about your vested status, you may call our Member Advocate Team. Our call center hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Phone: (844) – 464 – 6777 or (844) GO-INPRS.