In some cases, your eligibility date may change if you leave employment prior to reaching your full retirement date. However, your accrued benefit will be the same as it was the day you terminated employment. Depending on several factors, including the amount of service you earned before terminating your employment, you may be eligible to initiate your retirement benefit prior to reaching your full eligibility date by electing to retire under a Transition Rule. However, exercising early retirement will result in your receiving a reduced benefit.
It is important to know that after leaving active employment, ERSRI will not automatically begin sending your pension benefit to you once you have reached eligibility. It is your responsibility to notify ERSRI of your decision to retire and to submit a service retirement application approximately three to six months before you are eligible to begin collecting your benefit.
If you do not apply for your pension benefit when you first become eligible, you will not receive retroactive benefits to the date when you were initially eligible. Deferred retirement benefits are payable beginning on your eligibility date or on the first of the month in which your completed application is received by ERSRI, whichever is later.
To qualify for a deferred retirement benefit, you must leave your money on deposit with ERSRI when you terminate employment.
