Non-exempt staff (excluding PAO & PAU) and part-time (formerly temporary) employees appointed prior to July 1, 2013, are are eligible to participate in PERF.
This includes employees who normally work at least 50% full-time equivalent upon their appointment and are expected to work at least 1000 hours or more a year.
Non-exempt: overtime-eligible.
Being vested means you are entitled to 100% of your retirement plan.
IU participants must have at least 10 years of PERF creditable service (or at least 5 years PERF creditable service before becoming eligible for the IU retirement plan) to have a vested right to the pension benefit.
PERF has two separate and distinct benefits: a pension benefit and a defined contribution account benefit.
- Pension benefit
The full (unreduced) pension benefit is an annual benefit payable for life that is based on the following formula:
Years of PERF creditable service X final average salary X 1.1% = annual benefit for life
- Defined contribution account benefit (formerly called the annuity savings account)
The defined contribution (DC) account benefit is an employer contribution equal to 3% of a participant’s compensation per pay period that is contributed to an individual participant account at the end of each pay period by Indiana University.
Yes, in some cases you can. You may invest your defined contribution (DC) account in one or more investment funds. The default investment is an age-appropriate target retirement date fund.
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In-service withdrawals: As of January 1, 2021, participants who are at least 59½ years of age, and are age and service eligible for normal retirement, may take a distribution from their defined contribution (DC) account without separating service.
Millie Morgan Provision: If a participant has attained age 70 and has been credited with 20 or more years of PERF creditable service, the participant may begin receiving PERF pension while continuing to work at Indiana University. Beginning July 1, 2023, participants only need to attain age 65 with 20 or more years of PERF service to take advantage of this provision. Learn more about the Millie Morgan Retirement provision.
Non-covered employees: Participants that had PERF and are no longer in a PERF-covered position may be eligible to begin pension benefits. The participant must meet eligibility rules (i.e. age 65 with 10 years of service, age 60 with 15 years of service, or meet the rule of 85).
For additional information, contact IU Human Resources at askHR@iu.edu or 812-856-1234.
Generally, a participant must terminate employment with Indiana University and all other state employers who are participating employers in PERF in order to be eligible to receive distribution of plan benefits.
A participant's distribution options will differ depending on the following participant circumstances:
- The participant terminates employment and does not qualify for a pension benefit ("cash-out provision");
- The participant terminates employment with 5 or more years of PERF creditable service and is disabled ("disability provision"); or
- The participant terminates employment and qualifies for a full or reduced pension benefit ("retirement provision")
To be eligible to receive a full (unreduced) pension benefit, a participant must satisfy the following conditions:
- The participant terminates employment or is in a “non-covered” position with IU; and
- The participant must satisfy one of the following age and service conditions:
- Attainment of age 65 with 10 or more years of PERF creditable service (or at least 5 years creditable service before becoming eligible for the IU Retirement Plan;
- Attainment of age 60 with 15 or more years of PERF creditable service; or at least 10 years PERF covered service before switching to IU Retirement Plan
- Attainment of age 55 with the participant's age and total number of years of PERF creditable service equaling 85 or more
Required minimum distributions
Following your separation from the university, the IRS requires that you begin taking distributions from certain retirement accounts—called “required minimum distributions” or RMDs—starting at age 72 or 73:
- If you turned 72 on or before December 31, 2022, your RMDs begin at age 72.
- If you turn 72 on or after January 1, 2023, your RMDs begin at age 73.
You must take your first RMD from each applicable retirement account by April 1 of the year after you reach the required age, and then by December 31 each year after that. However, as long as you're still working, you can defer RMDs until after you separate from IU without penalties.
For questions about this, contact INPRS directly.
