An Arkansas Teacher Retirement System member must have 28 years of service or have attained the age of 60 in order to receive full retirement benefits. Act 290 of 2021 does not change those requirements. This law only affects a member’s separation requirements. In order for a member to start drawing retirement benefits the IRS requires a member to terminate their employment or attain the Normal Retirement Age. Until now, the Normal Retirement Age was defined as the age of 65.
The purpose of this law is to simplify the separation period requirements by eliminating the current one-month separation period. This law changes the definition of the Normal Retirement Age to be at least age 65 with 5 years of actual service OR at least age 60 with 38 or more total years of actual service, T-DROP service, and reciprocal service. A member that has attained the Normal Retirement Age is able to draw full retirement benefits and remain employed without separating from employment. This law will be effective from September 1, 2021.
Members that do not meet the Normal Retirement Age cannot return to employment in a position covered by the system within 6 months of their effective date of retirement or their retirement will be canceled. This includes substituting, part-time and/or full-time employment with any ATRS covered employer. The effective date of retirement will always be the first of the month. It is not the last day of employment.
To reiterate, this law does not change any of the retirement eligibility requirements, but only affects a member’s separation requirements.
If you have any questions regarding your termination / separation period, please feel free to contact our office for your specific account information and the exact date that you would be eligible to return to work.
Stay in Touch with ATRS and View YOUR Account Information
The ATRS website allows members to have direct access to specific member account information. Now, approximately 25,700 members have direct account access to individualized account information. Here is the link to the instructions to sign up: www.artrs.gov/registration.
You can also sign up to obtain these executive director updates through your private email address. Updates are made throughout the year such as at retirement season and other times when information needs to be shared. Now, over 27,100 people have signed up to receive this executive director update by direct email delivery. It is always a great pleasure for ATRS staff to learn of more ways to provide information to ATRS members, employers, beneficiaries, government officials, and the public. The ATRS Board is committed to providing a system that is member friendly and transparent. Remember that ATRS is here to serve you.
Best regards,
Clint Rhoden
Executive Director ATRS
Office: (501) 588-4367
Mobile: (501) 291-1623
clintr@artrs.gov