Accelerated Payments

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What is an Accelerated Payment?

Certain increases in reported earnings during a member's Final Rate of Earnings (FRE) period result in additional pension costs. Employers are required to pay this additional cost immediately upon the member’s retirement. This payment is called an Accelerated Payment.

IMRF Will Send You an Accelerated Payment Invoice

If a member retires from your employer with an end-of-career increase in reported earnings of at least 6%, or 1.5 times the increase in the CPI-Urban as of the previous September, whichever is greater, your employer will receive an Accelerated Payment Invoice. IMRF will also send your employer an Accelerated Payment Statement specifying the amount your employer must pay to IMRF.

Accelerated Payment Exemption Request

Certain increases in reported earnings are eligible for an exemption from the Accelerated Payment (AP). After you receive the AP invoice and Statement, your employer will receive a Secure Message in Employer Access to notify you that your “Request for an Accelerated Payment Exemption” form is available within your Document Viewer. If your Accelerated Payment qualifies for an exemption and you want to apply, you must complete and return this form along with the required supporting documentation within 30 days after this form becomes available to you in Employer Access.

Accelerated payments that are less than $5,000 will not receive an Accelerated Payment invoice. Instead, they will be factored into your employer’s contribution rates and paid over a longer period of time.

An Exemption Does Not Eliminate Liability

Receiving an Accelerated Payment exemption does not mean your employer doesn’t have to pay this cost. Receiving an exemption means the cost will be paid over a longer period of time, through your employer’s contribution rates.

Qualified Accelerated Payment Exemptions

The following increases in reported earnings may be considered for an exemption. If you apply for an exemption, you must list one of these exemptions on your form:

Additional Details and Required Documentation for Each Exception

Current Interest Rate for Accelerated Payment Invoice

Your Accelerated Payment Invoice must be paid within 90 days to avoid accruing interest. If you do not pay within 90 days, your invoice must be paid within three years after the initial 90-day period and interest will accrue. The current interest rate is 7.25%, and it is compounded annually.

An Exemption Does Not Eliminate Liability

Receiving an Accelerated Payment exemption does not mean your employer doesn’t have to pay this cost. Receiving an exemption means the cost will be paid over a longer period of time, through your employer’s contribution rates.

Estimate Your Future Accelerated Payment

To help you estimate your future cost of an increase in reported earnings, we have created Excel spreadsheets for Tier 1 and 2.

If you are planning to provide a member with an increase in reported earnings of more than 6% (or 1.5 times the increase in the CPI-Urban as of the previous September, whichever is greater), you can use these spreadsheets to estimate future cost (payable when the member retires).

Note: Due to inflation, IMRF used the “1.5 times the increase in the CPI-Urban” calculation starting January 1, 2023. For 2025 the 6% will be used.

Accelerated Payment Estimator Spreadsheets

IMRF updates these spreadsheets occasionally. We recommend that you create a shortcut to this page instead of making a copy of the spreadsheets. This ensures you will always use the most current versions.

You can download the Excel spreadsheets from the Quick Links menu above (updated September 2022) to estimate the amount of any Accelerated Payment:

To calculate the Accelerated Payment you will need to enter the member's:

Additional instructions and important details on the spreadsheets' limitations are included in the "Instructions" tab of the spreadsheet.

Questions? Send IMRF a secure message.