Are You Planning to Work After You Retire?
If you plan to work
part-time, as a consultant, or in any other capacity after you retire, here is some important information to keep in mind.

Separation of Service Requirement

IMRF’s Board of Trustees passed a resolution in 2020 regarding the Separation of Service requirement for IMRF retirees. This resolution applies to retirees who terminate from IMRF participation January 1, 2021 or after.

It says:

  • In order to qualify to begin receiving pension payments, you must stop working for any IMRF employer in any capacity, and

  • You must not enter into an agreement or pre-arrangement to return to employment in any capacity with any IMRF employer prior to retirement or for at least 60 days after your first pension payment. This includes plans to return as a part-time employee, an independent contractor, or a leased employee.

Retirees who violate this policy will be required to pay back all pension payments received, because they did not truly separate from service. This resolution was passed to comply with both the Illinois Pension Code and the Internal Revenue Code which governs IMRF's Qualified Plan status.

To read more on Separation of Service resolution, click here.


Change in Return to Work Policy

One other important change in the Return to Work rules, which became effective January 1, 2021, is that a retiree who returns to work in an IMRF-qualifying position will no longer immediately be re-enrolled in IMRF and have his or her pension stopped. Instead the retiree will become re-enrolled in IMRF once he or she has reached the hourly standard.

Once the retiree has worked enough hours to reach the hourly standard, he or she must either:

  • Be re-enrolled in IMRF (and their pension will be suspended), or

  • Stop working for their IMRF employer for the remainder of the 12-month period

For more information on IMRFs Return to Work policies, click here.
Consider Adjusting Your Voluntary Additional Contribution (VAC) Amount for the New Year
January is the perfect time to take a look at your Voluntary Additional Contributions (VAC) and decide whether you want to adjust your contribution rate. Whether you received a pay increase and are interested in putting more into your VAC or you want to reduce your VAC to help make ends meet, re-evaluating your contribution amount at the beginning of each year is a good habit to get into.

With VAC, you can elect to save between 1% and 10% of your reported earnings in an account that currently earns 7.25% interest.* The interest is credited at the end of the year, based on the opening balance at the beginning of the year.

VAC participants recently received their 2020 interest, which was 7.25% of their 2020 start-of-the-year balance. The high, no-risk interest rate makes this a unique and highly effective savings opportunity available to IMRF members only, to help supplement your retirement savings.
To change your VAC amount or sign up for VAC, complete this form and submit it to your Employer's Authorized Agent. After the Authorized Agent signs it, he or she can submit it to IMRF through Employer Access, or you can submit it to IMRF through Member Access.

To submit the form in Member Access, sign into your Member Access account, click on Secure Message in the Quick Links column on the right side of the page. Click on Compose New Message. You can then attach the form to your Secure Message.

For information on how to view your current contribution rate, VAC total, and interest, see the Member Access article below.

To learn more about what Voluntary Additional Contributions can do for you, click here.

* The interest rate may change in the future.
In Member Access, you can...
View Your Total Voluntary Additional Contributions and Interest—Recently Updated with 2020 Interest
Log into your Member Access account, and hover your cursor over the My Account tab in the upper left corner. Click on Voluntary Additional Contributions in the second column.

On this page, you can see your current contribution rate and your total Voluntary Additional Contributions (VAC) to date, as shown below. You can also see your total VAC interest, which now includes the interest earned in 2020.
Using the Pension Calculator in Member Access, you can also estimate what your current rate of Voluntary Additional Contributions will grow to by the time of your retirement. Click on Pension Calculator under Quick Links on the right side of the page. Make any changes you wish to the Retirement Scenario and then click the Calc button. Under the Results tab, you will see your estimated pension. If you scroll down, you will also see a lump sum estimate and a monthly annuity estimate for your Voluntary Additional Contributions, based on your current VAC contribution rate.

If you do not have a Member Access account, please click here to create one.
 
To learn more about all Member Access has to offer and how to conduct your important IMRF business using Member Access, click here.
Pre-Retirement Workshop Webinar Dates for 2021
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 for the first quarter:

January
  • Tuesday, January 26, 1 pm - 2 pm (central time)

February
  • Tuesday, February 9, 1 pm - 2 pm (central time)
  • Tuesday, February 16, 5 pm - 6 pm (central time)
  • Saturday, February 20, 9 am -10 am (central time)

March
  • Tuesday, March 2, 11 am - 12 pm (central time)
  • Thursday, March 18, 5 pm - 6 pm (central time)
  • Saturday, March 20, 9 am -10 am (central time)

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.
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