Retirement Benefits

Membership
Contributions
Creditable Service
Eligibility for Retirement
Vesting
Options


Membership
Membership in a contributory retirement system is mandatory for nearly all public employees who are regularly employed on a full-time basis and whose employment commences prior to attaining age sixty-five. The retirement board exercises full jurisdiction to determine an employee's eligibility for membership in cases involving part-time, provisional, temporary, seasonal or intermittent employment or service.
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Contributions
Employees contribute a percentage of their gross regular compensation based upon their membership date:

Membership CommencementContribution
Prior to January 1, 1975(5%)
January 1, 1975 - December 31, 1983(7%)
January 1, 1984 - June 30, 1996(8%)
On or after July 1, 1996(9%)

If membership began after January 1, 1979, and if your annual rate of regular compensation is $30,000 or more, the governmental unit for which you work will withhold 2% of that portion of your rate of regular compensation that is in excess of $30,000.

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Creditable Service
In general, you earn creditable service toward your retirement allowance for the period during which you contribute the appropriate percentage of your salary to the retirement system. In no event shall a member be credited with more than one year of creditable service during any one calendar year.
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Eligibility for Retirement
"Superannuation" is the term that is used to describe the process of being retired upon reaching a certain age and/or a certain length of creditable service requirements.
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Vesting
"Vesting" is a term commonly used to signify the maintenance of the right to a retirement allowance at a later date. Vested benefits are those benefits that do not depend upon the member remaining in service in order to be entitled to them. Any member who has a minimum of the completed years of creditable service and who leaves his/her annuity savings account on deposit with the retirement system may request a retirement allowance upon attaining age 55. 
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Options
"Options" is the term used to describe the allotment of your retirement allowance. Your allowance must be paid to you in lifetime monthly payments, but the apportionment of those payments will differ depending upon your option selection. Option choice also determines what benefits, if any, will be paid to survivors after a retiree's death. Further information regarding the available Options can be obtained from the Retirement Board at 781-314-3230.
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