Fact Sheet: UCRP/CalSTRS Concurrent Retirement

UCRP/CalSTRS
Concurrent
Retirement

One reward of public service is a pension—something that’s
increasingly rare these days. If you’re a member of both the
University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP) and theCalifornia State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), youmight be able to retire with a higher retirement income—orbecome vested sooner—than if you belonged to just one system.
The provision that makes this possible is known as concurrent
retirement.
This fact sheet outlines how UCRP’s concurrent retirement benefit
works, who is eligible for it, and how to elect it. (It doesn’t cover
the details of the CalSTRS concurrent retirement program.
For that information, contact CalSTRS directly at strs.ca.gov or800-228-5453.)

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Eligibility, How It Works

Eligibility

How It Works

You’re eligible for UCRP concurrent retirement benefits if:

HIGHER RETIREMENT INCOME• You are or were an active UCRP member any time on or after
July 1, 2002, and;As you probably know, your Highest Average Plan Compensation (HAPC) is an important piece of the formula UC uses tocalculate your retirement income. It’s your highest averagemonthly full-time-equivalent compensation during 36 continuous months of employment as an active UCRP member.

• You are or were a member of CalSTRS at any time, and;• You retire from UC after July 1, 2002.
Tip:
You don’t have to retire from UCRP and CalSTRS on thesame date to be eligible for UCRP concurrent retirement
benefits. But you’ll lose eligibility for concurrent retirement
if you earn service credit under UCRP or CalSTRS after you
retire from either plan.

Under concurrent retirement, if you earned more while amember of CalSTRS than as a UCRP member, then your CalSTRS
compensation can be used in determining your HAPC.* (Notethat there’s an exception: For any pay period in which you
earned service credit under both UCRP and CalSTRS, only yourUCRP compensation can be used.) And CalSTRS service credit
can’t be used toward eligibility for UC health benefits inretirement.
For example, say that Julia worked for seven years at UC andearned $43,000 per year during her final year. She then workedas a teacher for ten years and became a member of CalSTRS,earning $55,000 during each of her last three years. She’s now
62 and wants to retire. When she elects to retire from UC, theHAPC that helps determine her UC retirement benefits can bebased on her $55,000 CalSTRS compensation rather than the$43,000 she earned at UC.

* If you became a member of UCRP before July 1, 2013, and are eligible for
concurrent retirement, another factor comes into play in determining yourHAPC. If you retire from UCRP as an inactive member, your HAPC may also be
increased by cost-of-living adjustments (inactive COLAs) for the period after
you earned service credit but before you retired. Be aware, though, that COLAs
will be added to your HAPC only after you’ve stopped earning service credit
in both plans. (In other words, you aren’t eligible for UC inactive COLAs whileworking for a CalSTRS employer.) COLAs are applied July 1 of each year, so thegap between the time you stopped working and your retirement must include
July 1 for you to be eligible for a COLA for that year.

4What You Need To Do

What You Need To DoEARLIER VESTING
Generally, you need to accrue five years of UCRP service credit
to become vested. (Being vested means that your right toreceive UC retirement benefits when you leave the university
and reach retirement age can’t be taken away.) Under concurrent retirement, you can elect to retire from UC with less than
five years of UCRP service credit after age 55—provided you areeligible to retire from CalSTRS at that time, unless your eligibility
is dependent upon retiring concurrently under UCRP or any
other public retirement plan. You’ll still need to meet minimumage requirements for retirement based on your membership tier.
For example, say that Mark worked as a teacher and was amember of CalSTRS for 15 years before beginning a job at UC atage 53. When he’s 57, after four years at UC, his wife decides toretire, and he wants to do the same. Since he is a member ofboth retirement systems, he can retire from UC with four years
of UCRP service credit instead of five, because his CalSTRS yearsof service credit count toward UC’s requirement.

Since UCRP and CalSTRS provide separate benefits, you’ll needto elect benefits from each plan separately. That means that you
will have to submit two separate applications, one at UCRP and
one at CalSTRS. Filing an application at one does not ensure
concurrent retirement at both. For details on how to do this with
CalSTRS, contact them directly at strs.ca.gov or 800-228-5453.
For UCRP, your first step is to request a Personal Retirement
Profile (PRP) from your Benefits Office or the UC Retirement
Administration Service Center. (If you’re an inactive member,you can request a PRP from the UC Retirement Administration
Service Center at 800-888-8267.) Be sure to mention that you’rea member of CalSTRS.
UC will verify your CalSTRS membership and request yourCalSTRS compensation history. They’ll review your years ofservice credit in both systems and calculate your HAPC basedon your CalSTRS compensation, your UCRP compensation or a
combination of both. Then it’s up to you to make a decision
about the best time to retire.
Got questions?
For UC questions, check out your retirement benefits
account (ucal.us/accounts). Or contact the UC Retirement
Administration Service Center at 800-888-8267 or your localBenefits Office.
For CalSTRS questions, go to strs.ca.gov,
call 800-228-5453, or write:
California State Teachers’ Retirement System
Public Service Office
P.O. Box 15275
Sacramento, CA 95851-0275

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By authority of the Regents, University of California Human Resources,
located in Oakland, administers all benefit plans in accordance withapplicable plan documents and regulations, custodial agreements,
University of California Group Insurance Regulations for Faculty and Staff,
group insurance contracts, and state and federal laws. No person
is authorized to provide benefits information not contained in thesesource documents, and information not contained in these source
documents cannot be relied upon as having been authorized by theRegents. Source documents are available for inspection upon request(800-888-8267). What is written here does not constitute a guaranteeof plan coverage or benefits—particular rules and eligibility requirements
must be met before benefits can be received. The University of California
intends to continue the benefits described here indefinitely; however, thebenefits of all employees, retirees, and plan beneficiaries are subject tochange or termination at the time of contract renewal or at any other timeby the University or other governing authorities. The University also
reserves the right to determine new premiums, employer contributions andmonthly costs at any time. Health and welfare benefits are not accrued
or vested benefit entitlements. UC’s contribution toward the monthly
cost of the coverage is determined by UC and may change or stop
altogether, and may be affected by the state of California’s annual
budget appropriation. If you belong to an exclusively represented
bargaining unit, some of your benefits may differ from the ones described
here. For more information, employees should contact their Human
Resources Office and retirees should call the UC Retirement Administration Service Center (800-888-8267).
In conformance with applicable law and University policy, the University
is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Please send inquiries
regarding the University’s affirmative action and equal opportunity
policies for staff to Systemwide AA/EEO Policy Coordinator, Universityof California, Office of the President, 1111 Franklin Street, 5th Floor,Oakland, CA 94607, and for faculty to the Office of Academic Personneland Programs, University of California Office of the President,
1111 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94607.

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