INPRS lobby reopens to normal hours and services
Our lobby has returned to normal hours! We are open from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Members can speak with an INPRS team member regarding the following services:
- Verification of benefits
- PIN requests/account login assistance
- Scheduling for counseling/webinars/events
- General plan questions and account information – years of service, DC balances, retirement eligibility
- Benefit estimates
- Quarterly/Annual Statement questions
- Duplicate 1099s
We look forward to seeing members in person, should that be your preference. As always, our team is available for virtual appointments. You can register for a one-on-one appointment or webinar here.
If you have questions, please contact our Member Advocate Team at (844) GO-INPRS or (844-464-6777) or email us at questions@inprs.in.gov.
*Early withdrawal penalties may apply. Please check with your trusted tax advisor.
6-months retro-active benefit
If you are eligible for normal or early retirement but have not yet applied, INPRS can provide a retroactive benefit of up to six months. The benefit is based on the date you submit your application.
If you apply for retirement while in service as an elected official, or as a Millie Morgan retiree, you do not qualify.
More information on retro-active benefits as outlined in Indiana Code (IC) 5-10.2-4-1(d).
CARES ACT tax implications
If you took a distribution due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you do not have to repay your coronavirus-related distribution. A few allowable reasons for making a withdrawal included:
- You, your spouse, or a dependent contracted the coronavirus disease;
- You adversely were impacted financially, laid off, had work hours reduced, or failed to attain gainful employment as a result of the pandemic;
- You were forced to work from home or unable to work due to lack of available childcare.
INPRS wants you to keep in mind the potential impact on your overall retirement savings plan if you choose to take a coronavirus-related distribution.
You are required to pay taxes on any distributions from your INPRS DC account, if you did not reinvest within 60 day of receiving the distribution, provided the repayment was made no later than August 31, 2020. Recipients of these special distributions have the option to pay income taxes on the entire distribution on their 2020 taxes, which were due May 15, 2021, or could elect to pay income taxes on their distribution during tax years 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Contact our Member Advocate Team at (844) GO-INPRS or (844-464-6777) for assistance on how the CARES Act may have affected you.
Source: Internal Revenue Service
Tools to help when you can't pay your bills
Are you looking to increase your financial knowledge and spending power? Check out the Your Money, Your Goals financial empowerment toolkit offered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Evaluate your finances and make decisions about your budget. Explore methods that can help you prioritize your bills, manage your spending, cut expenses, and monitor your credit.
For more information check out CFPB’s blog at: https://bit.ly/3pTCAy5.
Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Transforming your retirement assets to income
You have the potential to make retirement the next exciting chapter in your life. Are you ready?
Retirement is the phase of life that can be about your time and how you want to spend it.
You might decide to schedule the majority of your adventures for the early part of your retirement. If so, you may choose an income option that provides more funding upfront. Or, if you have people depending on you, an income option that helps you meet your financial obligations to them may be more appropriate.
There are a variety of ways to convert your retirement savings into retirement income and each type of investment has rules governing the ability to draw down your money and when.
Learn what it may take to turn your dreams into reality by reading more from Voya, our recordkeeping partners, at: https://go.voya.com/3pFGCtv.
Source: Voya Financial
Online Security Tips
Building a successful retirement portfolio to cover post-employment expenses and provide financial flexibility for you and your loved ones takes years, but it only takes minutes for someone to gain access to your online account funds to steal your financial information.
You can reduce the risk of fraud and loss to your retirement account by following these basic rules:
REGISTER, SET UP AND ROUTINELY MONITOR YOUR ONLINE ACCOUNT
- Maintaining online access to your retirement account allows you to protect and manage your investment.
- Regularly checking your retirement account reduces the risk of fraudulent account access.
- Failing to register for an online account may enable cybercriminals to assume your online identity.
USE STRONG AND UNIQUE PASSWORDS
- Don’t use dictionary words.
- Use letters (both upper and lower case), numbers, and special characters.
- Don’t use letters and numbers in sequence (no “ABC”, “567”, etc.).
- Use 14 or more characters.
- Don’t write passwords down.
- Consider using a secure password manager to help create and track passwords.
- Change passwords every 120 days, or if there’s a security breach.
- Don’t share, reuse, or repeat passwords.
BE WARY OF FREE WI-FI
- Free Wi-Fi networks, such as the public Wi-Fi available at airports, hotels, or coffee shops pose security risks that may give criminals access to your personal information.
- A better option is to use your cellphone or home network.
BEWARE OF PHISHING ATTACKS
- Phishing attacks aim to trick you into sharing your passwords, account numbers, and sensitive information, and gain access to your accounts. A phishing message may look like it comes from a trusted organization, to lure you to click on a dangerous link or pass along confidential information.
- Common warning signs of phishing attacks include:
- A text message or email that you didn’t expect or that comes from a person or service you don’t know or use.
- Spelling errors or poor grammar.
- Shortened or odd links or addresses.
- Strange or mismatched sender addresses.
- Anything else that makes you feel uneasy.
Read here https://bit.ly/3jZrGpo for additional tips on keeping your account safe and secure.
Source: United States Department of Labor
2021 Legislative updates
The 2021 Indiana General Assembly recently approved several legislative changes impacting INPRS and its members. These laws went into effect on July 1, 2021, (unless otherwise stated):
House Enrolled Act 1001 (HEA 1001) – State budget
- A one percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) will be provided on Jan. 1, 2022, to PERF and TRF retirees.
- PERF and TRF retired members in pay status will receive a one percent COLA regardless of whether a retiree receives the minimum benefit.
- Members of these funds who retire after 1/1/22 but receive retroactive payments back to 1/1/22 will receive the COLA.
- Survivors who receive retroactive payments back to 1/1/22 will also receive the COLA.
Senate Enrolled Act 94 (SEA 94) – Pension matters
- INPRS is now the administrator of the Governor and Surviving Spouses’ Pension Plan (GSSP).
- PERF is responsible for payment of GSSP benefits and administrative costs, beginning July 1, 2021.
- GSSP is now a 401(a) plan – part of PERF.
- The state funding obligation to PERF must include the funding for the GSSP.
- Provides that to be eligible to receive Retirement Medical Benefits Account (RMBA) benefits, participants no longer must apply for a retirement benefit on their last day of service from their retirement fund to qualify.
- Allows participants, effective July 1, 2021, in PERF My Choice who are the normal retirement age on their last day of service to receive RMBA benefits when they are retirement eligible.
- Allows volunteer firefighters to participate in PERF My Choice but without earning service credit in PERF My Choice or PERF Hybrid.
- Establishes that INPRS may collect an overpayment from members, survivors, or beneficiaries.
- If an overpayment is being collected from recurring monthly benefits, the board may not require more than 25 percent of the monthly benefit to be used to repay the overpayment.
- If an overpayment to a member, survivor, or beneficiary began before July 1, 2015, and was caused by no fault of the member, survivor, or beneficiary, in applicable cases the board may only require the member, survivor, or beneficiary to pay the amount received during the 6 years prior to discovering the overpayment and may not collect more than 10 percent of a recurring monthly benefit.
Contact our Member Advocate Teams at (844) GO-INPRS or (844-464-6777) or view your member handbook online for more on member funds.