When to apply for benefits
Remember, your retirement benefits do not begin automatically! You must file a completed application with IPERS to begin the process for your retirement. Benefits cannot commence any earlier than the month your completed application is received by the IPERS office. All incomplete applications will be returned. An application for retirement benefits is not final until it has been reviewed and approved by IPERS. It is your responsibility to file in a timely manner.
Before you leave employment
If you meet IPERS' retirement eligibility criteria, it's important to apply for retirement benefits before you leave work with an IPERS-covered employer. If you don't, you are forfeiting monthly retirement benefit payments until your application is submitted and approved.
After you leave employment
If you left employment with your covered employer and are eligible to begin benefits, but you did not file a benefit application beforehand, your entitlement to benefit payments may be limited. You must file your benefit application in a timely manner so that benefit payments will not be forfeited.
Retroactive payments
If you are eligible for IPERS disability benefits, you may be eligible for up to 36 months of retroactive benefits.
Mandatory Distributions
The Internal Revenue Code requires the following:
- If you are no longer employed by an IPERS-covered employer, you must begin receiving benefits (known as “mandatory minimum distributions”) by April 1 of the calendar year after the calendar year you turn age 72.
- If you are still employed by an IPERS-covered employer after you reach age 72, you must begin receiving monthly benefits (known as “mandatory minimum distributions”) by April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year you leave that employment.
If you do not file your application on time, IPERS will automatically begin paying monthly benefits to you under Option 2. If your benefit would be less than $50 a month, IPERS will instead pay you a one-time lumpsum retirement benefit (known as an “actuarial equivalent”).
If you do not comply with the Internal Revenue Code, you may be subject to a 50% federal excise tax on the amount you should have received.