Ready to Retire

Retirement is a big step and employees are encouraged to utilize available resources to learn about the payout of leave accruals, insurance options, and the process for obtaining a retirement estimate from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS).

Basic information:

There are three basic types of retirement: service, disability, and industrial disability (IDR). Employees receive service credit for each year or partial year they work for a CalPERS employer, such as the County. The service credit accumulates on a fiscal year basis (July 01 through June 30), and is one of the factors used to calculate future retirement benefits. To earn a full year of service credit during a fiscal year, employees must work 1,720 hours. CalPERS retirement benefits are based on the employees age at retirement, years of service credit, and the highest salary for either a 1 or 3 year period, depending upon the employee’s hire date. The more service credit an employee has, the higher their retirement benefit will be.

• A service retirement is a lifetime benefit. Employees can retire as early as age 50 years with five years of service credit unless all the service was earned on or after January 01, 2013. There are some exceptions to the 5-year service requirement; employees are encouraged to contact CalPERS to find out if an exception applies to them. Employees may file their service retirement application within 120 days of their planned retirement date and recommends doing so within 60-90 days.  
• If an employee has a disabling injury or illness that prevents them from performing their usual job duties with the County, they may be eligible for a disability retirement or an industrial disability retirement.  The injury or illness does not need to be job-related for a disability retirement; the injury or illness DOES need to be job-related for eligibility to an industrial disability retirement. There are no age requirements for disability retirements; generally speaking employees must have at least five years of service credit to be eligible; 10 years for Tier II employees. There are some exceptions to the service requirement; employees are encouraged to contact CalPERS to find out if an exception applies to them.

Employees may use the CalPERS Retirement Estimate Calculator to approximate their benefits upon retirement.  

Employees who would like to discuss insurance options upon retirement should contact Human Resources to make an appointment with the benefits analyst. 

Steps to apply for retirement: 

There are two ways to apply for retirement:

• Complete an online application for retirement through the CalPERS website or mail a completed paper version of the application to CalPERS;
• Make an appointment with a CalPERS representative to complete the application.

Available CalPERS videos: 

CalPERS has a number of available videos; the most commonly requested information can be found in the videos below. 

1. The earlier employees develop an understanding of their benefits, the more prepared they will be to make sound decisions. In this CalPERS presentation, employees will learn about their benefits, the different sources of retirement income, and the tools and resources available to them as they move through their career.

2. Having the income employees need to support the lifestyle desired in retirement is essential. Planning for retirement includes knowing the sources of potential income and figuring out how they fit into an employee's overall income strategy. In this video CalPERS will provide an overview of the CalPERS retirement plan, the different CalPERS retirement types, and what may be included in personal assets. 

3. This video explains the three factors used to establish your retirement formula in more detail, and explains how to increase benefits. 

4.This video explains how to use the "MyCalPers" retirement estimate calculator and the different retirement options available.