5.50 E. Reciprocal Applications

In order to retire under the Reciprocal Act, the member must retire under all systems at the same time.

The member must submit separate applications to the systems in which the member has established credits.

Each system will pay its own proportionate pension Also known as an annuity. An IMRF pension is paid as long as the member lives. It is increased by 3% of the original amount each year. A member must have at least eight years of service credit and be age 55 to apply for an IMRF pension under the Regular and ECO plans. A member must be age 50 and have at least 20 years of SLEP service credit to apply for a SLEP pension. and the member will receive separate checks from the systems involved.

The member should submit the first application to the system he or she participated in last. For example, if the member is retiring from IMRF, but participated in SERS previously, the member would submit the first retirement application to IMRF and then submit an application to SERS.

Also, the member should advise each system that he or she plans to retire under the Reciprocal Act.

If the reciprocal systems a member will retire under have different age requirements, as a general rule, the member can begin receiving only that portion of the pension he or she earned from the system with the earlier age requirement.

Once the member reaches the minimum age requirement of his or her other system(s), the member would then receive a pension from that system(s).

For example, if a member was retiring under IMRF Tier 1 (which has a minimum retirement age of 55) and another system with a minimum retirement age of 60, the member could receive the IMRF portion of the reciprocal pension at age 55, and the portion of the pension earned under the other plan when the member reached age 60.

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