If you retire at age 65 with three years of service credit from TRS Plan 3 and four from the Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) Plan 3, you are a dual member. With dual membership, your service credit is combined, giving you enough to retire. Your benefit from each system is calculated with service from that system alone. This is how your benefit is calculated:

Military service

Do you have U.S. military service? If you leave or reduce your DRS retirement plan-covered employment to serve in the military, you could be eligible for restoration of missing retirement service credit. The amount of service credit you have directly affects your retirement income calculation.

There is a deadline

You must complete payment for the military service credit within five years of returning to DRS-covered employment, or before you retire, whichever comes first. After this time has passed, and if the service does not qualify for no-cost service, you will no longer be eligible to replace the service credit using the military credit program. However, you can still purchase the service credit for a much higher cost as an optional bill past the statutory deadline date up to the time you retire (RCW ). The longer you wait, the more it costs.

You can apply to recover up to five years of interruptive military service credit (sometimes up to 10 years depending on your circumstance). If your military service was during a period of war or an armed conflict during which you earned a campaign badge or medal, you might be able to recover up to five years of service credit at no cost to you.

For other interruptive military service, you can apply to receive an optional bill for the retirement contributions you would have paid on your normal salary during that time. However, you must pay your optional bill within five years after you return to work, and you must be working for the same employer you left to serve in the military. If you don’t pay the bill within five years, you might still be able to purchase the https://getbride.org/pt/mulheres-holandesas/ service credit, but at a much higher cost.

How do I apply?

Contact DRS about a month and a half after you return to work to ask about recovering military service credit. You will then submit information, such as a copy of your DD214 service record, to help us determine your eligibility. DRS will review your account as well as the information you provide and notify you of our findings, including an optional bill if applicable. This usually takes 2-3 weeks.

Depending on the type of funds you have available, DRS has a couple of annuity purchase options to increase your monthly pension amount.

Marriage or divorce

Your retirement account can be affected by changes in your marital status. If you marry or divorce before you retire, you need to update your beneficiary, even if your beneficiary remains the same.

Marriage

If you are married when you retire, you choose from a few benefit options that can include retirement income coverage for your spouse if you die before them. See options for changing your benefit after retirement.

If you marry after retirement, you could be eligible to change your benefit option to add your spouse. You need to be married at least a year and request DRS add your spouse during your second year of marriage. See options for changing your benefit after retirement.

If you become widowed after retiring, you can have your benefit option changed to the single-life option with no survivor reduction. You will need to report the death to DRS.