Retirement
To: Employees Preparing to Retire
From: Bonnie Head, Benefits Officer
Retirement Information
If you are considering or planning retirement, there is a process to consider. The first course of action is to set up an appointment (in person or phone) with Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS). They will be able to provide defined benefit estimates on how much you will earn based on the various payment plan options available. They are able to provide estimates for multiple retirement dates. When making the request to TCRS, you will need to know your number of sick days left and they will be able to confirm your years of service. You may request a meeting with TCRS or you may request an estimate by phone to be mailed or emailed. Please call TCRS at (1-800-922-7772, say “TCRS”, “Agent”). The Finance Department has no information regarding your retirement account balance or benefit estimate. General information and forms are available on the TCRS website: http://treasury.tn.gov/tcrs/. Retirement checklist attached for your convenience.
TCRS recommends filing an application for retirement 60 to 90 days prior to the last paid working day of service. This helps to insure there will be no gap between final active payroll deposits and the start of retirement deposits. For employees planning to retire at the end of the school year, the last day of school is considered the last working day.
Once you make the decision on your retirement date, you will log onto http://mytcrs.tn.gov/ to complete your retirement application online (log in instructions attached). Once the file is received by TCRS, I will then certify salary and sick time information online. TCRS no longer accepts paper applications; therefore, all retirement applications must be completed online.
NOTE: When completing online application, please have in mind your last working. The very next day is your official retirement date. Use this date as your RETIREMENT DATE SELECTION on the online retirement application. Choose other and manually type in this date for the retirement date selection. Please DO NOT choose “first eligible date”. This will input the date you are completing the application.
Please make Central office and/or your administrator of your intentions after completing your retirement application by submitting a retirement notification. To obtain end dates for benefits and/or if you are eligible to continue insurance at retirement, please call me, Bonnie Head, to obtain this information at 615-384-0202