A Reduced Benefit Still Protects You

Members are often frustrated when their monthly IMRF disability benefit is reduced to $10.00. Your benefit could be reduced because you are entitled to Social Security disability, Social Security full retirement, or workers’ compensation benefits. However, that $10.00 represents a much greater value.

Your IMRF disability benefits are valuable because:

• You continue to earn service credit toward your future IMRF pension, at no cost to you.
• Your death benefits would still include one year's salary, and death benefit options are the same as if you were still working.
• You could receive monthly payments up to 50% of your average monthly salary (based on the 12 months before the month you became disabled).
• Your retirement benefits will not be affected by the amount of your disability benefit. Your original salary will be used to calculate your retirement benefit.

A reduced benefit still protects you

If you receive Social Security disability and/or workers' compensation benefits, by law IMRF disability benefits must be reduced by the amount you receive from these benefits. Even if the amount you receive from Social Security disability and/or workers' compensation exceeds 50% of your income, IMRF will always pay you a minimum monthly benefit of $10.00 to make sure your other IMRF benefits are protected.

Why is $10.00 a month so important?

Even though it may not seem like a lot of money, this $10.00 benefit is worth much more than you might realize. Every month you receive a disability benefit from IMRF:

• Your service credit is protected—you earn an additional month of service credit toward your future pension and you avoid any gaps in service that could affect your future benefits.
• Your pension is protected—your retirement benefit will be calculated using your original salary, not the reduced disability amount.
• Your family is protected—your death benefits would still include one year's salary, and death benefit options are the same as if you were still working.

The true value of a $10.00 monthly benefit

To understand the true value of a $10.00 monthly benefit, consider the following example:

Mary Member is a Tier 1 member who has a salary of $45,000 a year and 15 years of service credit when she becomes disabled at age 55. Mary is disabled for two full years before she becomes well enough to return to her IMRF position.

Because Mary was eligible for other disability compensation, her monthly IMRF disability benefit was reduced to $10.00. However, had Mary not been receiving that $10 monthly benefit, she would have lost two entire years of service credit. When Mary retires at age 60, this is the difference those two years of service credit would make in Mary’s pension payment:

Although Mary only received a total of $240.00 in disability payments for the two years she was disabled, that $240.00 represents an additional $1,800 per year in retirement. Her pension amount will increase every year, and she will receive her pension for as long as she lives.

This has a positive impact on Mary’s pension amount, because part of what determines the amount of your IMRF pension is how much service credit you have. Each $10 payment is equal to $3,750 reported wages in monthly service credit toward Mary’s pension. (Click here to learn more about how your IMRF pension is calculated.)

This same $10.00 monthly payment:

• Protects your IMRF death benefits. For example, it makes sure your death benefits include a full year of your salary. Without that $10.00 a month, you would be considered an inactive member and your death benefits would no longer include a year of your salary.
• Can make a difference in how long you need to work before you are eligible to retire. If you are not vested for your pension and you lose a year of service credit, you will have to work a year longer before you vest for your IMRF pension.