N.Y. RSS Law § 514 — New York Code / Act RSS / Article 14 / Section 514
Options
Status: in_force

§ 514. Options. a. A member, or if he or she is an incompetent, the\nmember's spouse or the committee of such member's property, may elect to\nreceive the actuarial equivalent of the retirement allowance at the time\nof retirement, in the form of a smaller retirement allowance payable to\nsuch member for life and one of the following optional settlements:\n  Option one. Upon the member's death, a retirement allowance in an\namount equal to that paid to the member shall be paid for life to the\nbeneficiary so designated.\n  Option two. Upon the member's death, a retirement allowance of ninety\npercent or less (measured in increments of not less than ten percent) of\nthe amount paid to such member shall be paid for life to the beneficiary\nso designated.\n  Option three. A five-year certain option under which payment is made\nto the member for life but is guaranteed for a minimum of five years\nfollowing retirement.\n  Option four. A ten-year certain option under which payment is made to\nthe member for life but is guaranteed for a minimum of ten years\nfollowing retirement.\n  Option five. Upon the member's death, a retirement allowance in an\namount equal to fifty percent or one hundred percent of that paid to the\nmember shall be paid for life to such person as he shall nominate by\nwritten designation duly acknowledged and filed with the retirement\nsystem at the time of retirement. Upon the death, prior to the death of\nthe member, of said person so nominated, the member shall begin\nreceiving, in lieu of the allowance then payable, an allowance equal in\namount to that which would have been payable if no optional modification\nof the retirement allowance were in effect.\n  a-1. A member of the New York state and local employees' retirement\nsystem or the New York state and local police and fire retirement system\nwho retires pursuant to the provisions of this article, may elect, in\nlieu of the options set forth in subdivision a of this section, the\nfollowing optional settlement:\n  Alternative Option. The actuarial equivalent of the member's\nretirement allowance at the time of retirement, in the form of a smaller\nretirement allowance payable to such members for life and some other\nbenefit or benefits paid either to the member or to such person or\npersons as he shall nominate, provided such other benefit or benefits,\ntogether with such smaller allowance, shall be certified by the actuary\nof such retirement system to be of equivalent actuarial value to his\nretirement allowance and shall be approved by the head of such\nretirement system and provided further that nothing herein shall require\nsuch retirement system to pay a benefit in violation of paragraph nine\nof subsection a of section four hundred one of the Internal Revenue Code\nof 1986, as amended, 26 U.S.C. § 401(a)(9).\n  b. Upon attainment of early retirement age or age sixty-two, if\nearlier, a member who has not terminated employment or who is not\nreceiving service retirement, disability or vested benefits may elect a\nsurvivor annuity under option one or option two to be payable on such\nmember's death during the period commencing with attainment of early\nretirement age or age sixty-two, if earlier, and ending upon (i) the\nattainment of normal retirement age or (ii) the date upon which service\nretirement or deferred vested benefits commence, if earlier or later\nthan normal retirement age. In the event of an election hereunder, the\nbenefits payable to the member or the member's survivor shall be\nactuarially reduced to reflect the cost of the survivor annuity elected.\nSuch survivor annuity shall be paid in lieu of any other death benefit\navailable, unless such death benefit is greater than such survivor\nannuity, in which event the applicable death benefit shall be paid in\nlieu of the survivor benefit hereunder.\n  c. No option hereunder shall be permitted whereby the member would\nreceive less than fifty percent of the pension reserve during such\nmember's life expectancy. Provided, however, the preceding sentence\nshall not apply if the surviving beneficiary is the member's spouse.\n  ** d. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, an option\nselection previously filed by a member or retired member subject to the\nprovisions of this section may be changed no later than thirty days\nfollowing the date of payability of his or her retirement allowance. A\nretired member who has been retired for disability may change an option\nselection previously filed no later than (1) thirty days following the\ndate on which such member's application for disability retirement was\napproved by the retirement board or (2) thirty days following the date\non which such retiree was retired for disability, whichever is later.\n  ** NB There are 2 sb d's\n  ** d. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, an option\nselection previously filed by a member or retired member of the New York\ncity teachers' retirement system or the New York city board of education\nretirement system subject to the provisions of this section may be\nchanged no later than thirty days following the date of payability of\nhis or her retirement allowance. A retired member who has been retired\nfor disability may change an option selection previously filed no later\nthan (1) thirty days following the date on which such member's\napplication for disability retirement was approved by the retirement\nboard or (2) thirty days following the date on which such retiree was\nretired for disability, whichever date is later.\n  ** NB There are 2 sb d's\n