CERF Pension Plan
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)
CERF’s Pension Plan provides a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to
participants who have been receiving benefits for at least one year
at the time the COLA takes effect. This adjustment will take effect
each July 1 and will be 100% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), up
to 1%.
Receiving Your Benefits
When you are ready to retire, you will need to complete a retirement
application 30-90 days prior to your termination date and submit it
to the CERF Administrative Office. All contributions required from
you, whether paid by you or paid by the county on your behalf, must
be received and reconciled by the CERF Administrative Office prior
to your benefit commencement. Additionally, if you are still working
at the time your retirement application is submitted to CERF the
salary, hours and contributions cannot be verified until you have worked
through your date of termination and all salary, hours and
contribution information (if applicable)
has been received from the county. Because of this, your first
annuity payment may be delayed. You will, however, receive payment
retroactive to your benefit commencement date.
Using information from your retirement application, the CERF
Administrative Office will calculate your benefit and send a
retirement packet to you. From the packet, you will select a payment
option, determine tax withholding and complete banking information to receive your
payment
by direct deposit.
Normal Form of Payment
The normal form of payment is a Single Life Annuity. This payment
option provides you with a monthly payment for the rest of your
life. When you die, payments are not made to a beneficiary.
Optional Forms of Payment
All of the optional forms of payment are “actuarially equivalent” to
the normal form of payment. This means the monthly benefit amount
derived from an optional payment method is adjusted so that the
value of the payments over your lifetime and your beneficiary’s
lifetime are the same as the value of the normal form of payment.
For the following joint and survivor annuity options, if the
beneficiary you have chosen dies before you, please notify the CERF
Administrative Office.
Joint and Survivor Annuity
With this option, you will receive smaller monthly payments than
with the Single Life Annuity because payments may continue to your
designated co-annuitant after your death. You can choose to have
50%, 75% or 100% of your reduced pension paid to your co-annuitant.
Of course, the higher the continuation percentage you choose, the
lower your benefit will be while you are living.
If your co-annuitant dies before you, there will be no further
benefits paid after your death. However, your benefit will increase
to the Single Life Annuity amount for the remainder of your
lifetime.
10-Year Certain and Life Annuity
This option provides a smaller monthly payment than the Single Life
Annuity. In exchange for the lower initial benefit, you have a
minimum guarantee of at least 120 monthly payments (10 years) even
if you die before 120 payments have been received. You may name more
than one beneficiary under this option. If you do, you will need to
designate the percentage of the benefit that each survivor should
receive. If you die before the 10-year period ends and no
beneficiary is living, the remaining payments will be made to the
estate of the last surviving beneficiary. If you live longer than 10
years, you will continue to receive payments for the remainder of
your lifetime. At the time of your death, all payments stop.
Level Income Option
If you retire prior to age 62, this option can provide you with a
higher income until you reach age 62. At age 62, your CERF pension
will decrease to allow your combined retirement income from CERF and
Social Security to remain level throughout your retirement years.
Joint & Survivor and Level Income Option
This payment option is a combination of the Joint & Survivor annuity
and Level Income options. Choosing this option will cause a greater
adjustment to your initial pension than choosing just one of the two
options.
CERF has the right to reclaim any overpayments that are made to
you by reducing future benefits. |
