Members of PSERS who meet certain eligibility requirements qualify to receive a monthly retirement benefit for life.
Normal retirement, also known as superannuation or full retirement, is an unreduced DB benefit where all age and/or service requirements are met. If you are vested, you may receive a normal retirement benefit when you terminate public school employment and if:
* Special conditions may apply for those who terminated active PSERS-covered employment prior to July 1, 2001. Contact PSERS for more information.
Early retirement is a reduced retirement benefit available to members who do not meet the normal retirement requirements. The chart below identifies the years of service necessary for an early retirement and the retirement factor(s) used to reduce your monthly benefit.
10 years of service
* Special conditions may apply for those who terminated active PSERS-covered employment prior to July 1, 2001. Contact PSERS for more information.
**Early Retirement applies to only the DB component of a Class T-G or Class T-H member’s benefit.
For Class T-C, Class T-D, Class T-E, Class T-F, and Class T-H members, a special early retirement is available if you are at least age 55 and have 25 or more years of credited service (“55/25”). A “55/25” retirement is reduced by one quarter of one percent per month for each month you are under normal retirement requirements.
Class T-G members, have a special early retirement available if you are at least age 57 with 25 years of service.
To apply for a PSERS disability retirement benefit, you must have at least five (5) years of credited service with PSERS. There are more eligibility requirements to apply for a disability retirement.
Only actively working members of PSERS are eligible to purchase service credit. Once you terminate PA public school employment it will be too late to purchase service credit.
The PSERS Foundations For Your Future (FFYF) programs are designed to give public school employees an overview of their retirement benefits. These programs provide all active members with general information about PSERS' benefits and services. This program will help you begin to plan for your retirement early in your career.
PSERS will prepare two (2) retirement estimates for members who are retiring within the current school year. If you are not retiring within the current school year, PSERS supplies two ways for you to prepare your own personalized retirement estimates through PSERS' Member Self-Service (MSS) Portal. A staff-prepared retirement estimate is needed to attend exit counseling
Exit Counseling is available to anyone retiring in the current school year. Emphasis at Exit Counseling will be on completion of the retirement application and related forms. The exit counseling sessions will be scheduled to accommodate a small group and are available in person and online.
Bring your staff-prepared estimate and any other applicable paperwork needed to complete your retirement application. For example, completed Direct Rollover form, direct deposit bank information, beneficiary and survivor annuitant information along with survivor annuitant proof of date.begin to process your retirement application without formal reporting of your termination date from all your PA public school employers.
It is crucial to notify your public school employer as PSERS cannot begin to process your retirement application without formal reporting of your termination date from all your PA public school employers.
Your Application for Retirement (PSRS-8) must be received by PSERS within 90 days of your termination date in order to receive retroactive retirement benefits. Even in those situations where there is a pending divorce action or purchase of service, in order to preserve retroactive benefits, the Application for Retirement must still be submitted within the 90 day time frame. Click here to view the IRS Notice 2020-62 Safe Harbor Explanations – Eligible Rollover Distributions.