Yes. You do not have to withdraw your account when you leave state employment. Your retirement account continues as long as you have service credit and leave your money in the ERS account. Your money earns 2% interest each year.

You give up your rights to future ERS benefits. This means if you return to state employment you will be subject to the benefit rules for new employees.

To check your account balance, sign into your account and view Account Balance Summary or contact ERS.

No. You must terminate employment and be off the state payroll for at least 30 days before ERS can process the payment.

Yes, we call that a partial rollover. You must withdraw all of your money or none at all. You withdraw part of your account for yourself and roll over the rest of the taxable amount of your account balance to an IRA or qualified savings plan. The split between the refund and the rollover must be whole numbers. For example: 50/50, 60/40, 70/30.

You will pay taxes and penalties on the portion that you do not roll over.

A rollover is when you move your retirement money from one tax-deferred or tax-free account to another.

For example, if you move money from your ERS retirement account to an Individual Retirement Account, the deposit transaction is called a rollover.

A qualified plan is a savings plan that meets IRS rules, lets you save money for retirement, and does not tax the money until you withdraw it. Qualified plans include IRAs at your financial institution, and 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans.

You can put your money in a traditional IRA at your bank or credit union. You can't put your money in an account that has pre-taxed money; like, a Roth IRA, a Simple IRA, or an Educational IRA, known as a Coverdell Education Savings Account.

Federal taxes are withheld before mailing you a check. Either 20% if you are a U.S. citizen or 30% if you are not a U.S. citizen is withheld on the taxable amount of your account balance.

ERS mails you a 1099R form in January that shows the withdrawal as income. We send the form to the address you provide in your online account. If you are under the age of 59½, you may also have to pay an additional 10% penalty when you file your taxes at the end of the year.

You can start the process online by signing into your account or by calling ERS.

A few things must happen before you receive your check:

• your last state agency must report the date you left state employment, 
• at least 30 days have passed since you left state employment and
• we receive and approve your completed retirement account withdrawal form.

Once all of these things happen, you will receive your retirement account withdrawal in approximately 10 business days. 
 

Yes. You may buy back the withdrawn ERS service after at least six months have passed since the date of your withdrawal. You can buy withdrawn ERS service credit if you: 

• have established service credit with one of the systems participating in the proportionate retirement program, or 
• are a contributing member of ERS.

Service can be purchased in one-month increments. The cost of this service credit includes the original withdrawn amount plus 10% interest for each fiscal year from the date of your withdrawal up to and including the fiscal year in which your purchase is completed. Interest is added each September 1.

Even though you were previously an ERS member, you cannot re-establish your account under the previous benefit rules. You will be subject to all current state laws for your annuity and health insurance eligibility after you pay for and re-establish your previously withdrawn service. 


 

Having documents notarized helps reduce fraud by ensuring the correct individual signs the RAW disclaimer. The notary public makes sure the correct individual appears before them and has produced the proper identification.