Fundamentals Newsletter

Pension Estimates Help You Plan!

An important part of your retirement planning is knowing what your retirement benefits will be. IMRF offers a variety of ways to estimate your future IMRF pension.

Create Personal Pension Estimates in Member Access

The Pension Calculator in Member Access lets you create pension estimates at any time, and you can see your results right away.

You can look at an unlimited number of retirement scenarios by using:

Different ages at retirement
Different estimates of future service credit
Estimated future wage increases

To use the pension calculator in Member Access, log in to your Member Access account and go to the Quick Links on the right side of the page. Click on Pension Calculator.

Estimates Included in Your Personal Statement of Benefits

Every year IMRF provides you with a Personal Statement of Benefits available in Member Access. Once you have at least one year of service credit, your annual statement will include personal pension estimates and the estimated value of your future IMRF pension.

Formal Pension Estimates

When you are nearing retirement, you should call IMRF to request a formal pension estimate. You should always request a formal written estimate before making any final decisions about your retirement.

If you do not have a Member Access account, you will need to create one to use the pension calculator and view your online Personal Statement of Benefits. For instructions on creating a Member Access account, see the last paragraph in the Member Access article at the bottom of this newsletter.

Pre-Retirement Workshop Webinars

IMRF's Pre-Retirement Workshops are for IMRF members who are within five years of retirement. They will address the steps you must take before and during the IMRF retirement application process.

Pre-Retirement Workshop webinar dates:

May

Thursday, May 20, 5 pm - 6 pm

June

Tuesday, June 1, 11 am - 12 pm

Thursday, June 17, 1 pm - 2 pm

Saturday, June 19, 9 am - 10 am

There is a cap on the number of participants for each webinar, so register today to ensure your spot! For more information, or to register for a Pre-Retirement Workshop webinar, click here.

The July and August webinar dates will be posted on the workshops page of the IMRF website once available.

Member Access - How To...

Apply For Your Pension Online

To apply for your pension online, log in to Member Access. After you log in, hover your cursor over the My Account tab in the upper left. Click on Apply for an IMRF Pension at the bottom of the right column.

You should apply for your IMRF Pension about one month before you plan to retire.

Applying for a pension will take about 15 minutes. You will need the following information:

Step 1 - Pension Application:

Your last day of work
If applicable, Reciprocal System and service dates
If eligible, Early Retirement Incentive participation

Step 2 - Direct Deposit:

Bank routing and account numbers

Step 3 - Tax Withholding:

Your withholding marital status and number of personal exemptions (optional)

If you need to create a Member Access account, either click here to request that a new registration key be mailed to you, or call 1-800-ASK-IMRF (1-800-275-4673) to request your registration key and receive registration assistance. Registration keys from previous years' Member Statements are no longer valid.

To watch a video on how to create a Member Access account, click here.

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