Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS)
The University of Alaska works with the State of Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits (DRB) to administer the Teacher's Retirement System (TRS). The DRB is the plan administrator for all TRS plans. For more information on the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), please review the ORP webpage. All benefit-eligible faculty are required to participate in a retirement account. For information on staff retirement plans, please review the PERS webpage.
Faculty who are in a benefit-eligible position will choose between the Teacher's Retirement
System (TRS) and the Optional Retirement Plan.
Please review the options below to get an idea of what your faculty retirement options may be. Your official retirement selections will be sent to you after you attend a Benefits Overview with the a member of the UA Benefits team. For questions, please email ua-benefits@alaska.edu.
| Work Status | Retirement Plan |
|---|---|
| I am faculty and I have never worked for the University of Alaska or any State of Alaska employer before. | I will choose between TRS and ORP within my first 30 days. |
| I am faculty and I have worked for the University of Alaska before in a faculty benefit-eligible position. | My retirement plan will be the plan I previously selected (either ORP or TRS with or without UA Pension Plan). |
| I am faculty and I have worked for the University of Alaska before in a staff benefit-eligible position. |
If I previously selected ORP with my staff position, I will be placed back in ORP. If I previously selected PERS with my staff position, I will be placed in TRS with our without the UA Pension Plan. |
| I am faculty and I have worked for a State of Alaska employer before (either faculty or staff) but this is my first faculty position with the University of Alaska. |
My retirement plan will be my previous TRS plan if I was a faculty member. If I was previously staff with another State of Alaska employer, I will choose between TRS and ORP within my first 30 days. |
New benefit-eligible faculty will be provided with their retirement election paperwork within their first 30 days of hire. Participation in a retirement plan is mandatory for all benefit-eligible positions.
Your retirement election is irrevocable. This means that your retirement selection cannot be changed as long as you are in a faculty position with the university - even if you separate from the university and return as staff after a break in service.
If you are transferring positions within UA (from temporary or staff to faculty) you may be given additional retirement choices depending on your initial retirement election. Your official retirement selections will be sent to you after you attend a Benefits Overview with the a member of the UA Benefits team. For questions, please email ua-benefits@alaska.edu.
If you have a choice between more than one retirement plan, you must make the election within 30 days of hire. If no election is made you will automatically default into TRS.
Defined benefit (DB) plans provide eligible employees guaranteed income for life at
the time of retirement. The monthly benefit for each participant is calculated based
on factors such as the employee’s salary and years of service. The TRS DB plan is
managed through the DRB. More information can be found on the DRB's webpage. Please note UA has opted out of the DRB's defered compensation plan.
The TRS Tier Chart is a side by side comparison of all three TRS plans. For more detailed information, visit the PERS & TRS Defined Benefit Retirement Plan and refer to the TRS DB Handbook - Tier I and II .
| TRS Tier | Dates of Eligibility |
|---|---|
| TRS DB Tier I | This tier consists of employees hired into TRS through June 30, 1990. |
| TRS DB Tier II | This tier consists of employees hired into the TRS from July 1, 1990 through June 30, 2006. |
Employee contributions are mandatory when participating in TRS. These percentages are fixed and cannot be changed. Regular Faculty/Academic Officers/Senior Administrators in TRS DB Tiers I and II will contribute 8.65% through biweekly pre-tax payroll deductions.
The University of Alaska contributes an additional percentage of an employee's salary as determined annually by TRS and the DRB.
TRS contains vesting features that give you the right to your account balance or retirement benefits after a specified period of time.
TRS Tiers I and II members are vested when you have at least eight paid-up years of credible TRS service.
Once you are vested, you may terminate TRS employment and still receive a monthly retirement benefit when you reach retirement age. You must leave your contributions in the plan to stay vested.
Defined contribution (DC) plans are account-based plans where the employee and employer contributions are invested into mutual funds or money market funds where they grow tax-deferred until withdrawn. The TRS DC plan is managed by the DRB through Empower Retirement. Visit the Empower Retirement webpage for more information. Please note UA has opted out of the DRB deferred compensation plan.
The TRS Tier Chart is a side by side comparison of all three TRS plans. For more detailed information, visit the PERS & TRS Defined Benefit Retirement Plan and refer to the TRS DB Handbook - Tier I and II .
| TRS Tier | Dates of Eligibility |
|---|---|
| TRS DC Tier III | This tier consists of employees hired into TRS on or after July 1, 2006. |
Employee contributions are mandatory when participating in TRS. These percentages are fixed and cannot be changed. Regular Faculty/Academic Officers/Senior Administrators will contribute 8% of their salary through biweekly pre-tax payroll deductions.
The University of Alaska contributes 7% of an employees salary.
You are 100% vested in the employee contributions you make to your retirement account. Employer contributions follow the 5 year vesting schedule shown below.
| Years of Service | Employer Vesting Percent |
|---|---|
| Less than 2 years of service | 0% vested in employer contributions |
| 2 years of service | 25% vested in employer contributions |
| 3 years of service | 50% vested in employer contributions |
| 4 years of service | 75% vested in employer contributions |
| 5+ years of service | 100% vested in employer contributions |
TRS DB Tiers I - II can update beneficiaries at any time either by logging into your MyRnB account, completing the Tiers I - III Beneficiary Form, or by contacting the DRB directly at 1-800-821-2251.
TRS DC Tier III can update beneficiaries at any time by logging into your Empower Retirement account.
If you are considering retirement from TRS, please reach out to the DRB as soon as possible to review the retirement application process and what to expect. The DRB can be reached at 1-800-821-2251. Planning and/or applying for retirement is slightly different depending on if you are in a Defined Benefit (DB) or Defined Contribution (DC) TRS plan.
As you are preparing for retirement, please review our offboarding webpage which provides detailed information on separating from the university.
TRS DB Tier I - II members are eligible to retire and receive monthly benefits when vested and at retirement age, or by having met the minimum service requirements.
No in-service distributions are allowed.
Information about retiring from TRS DB can be found in the TRS DB Tiers I-II Handbook.
The DRB also provides a Retiree Net Pay Estimator to provide an estimate of your net monthly benefit in retirement.
The DRB is the plan administrator for all PERS plans and all questions or concerns regarding your PERS retirement should be directed to the DRB at 1-800-821-2251.
The UA Benefits team is not able to provide financial planning advice.
- Contact the DRB at 1-800-821-2251 to request an estimate of your benefits and your retirement application. It is recommended that you do this at least 120 days prior to your retirement date.
- Meet with a regional retirement counselor with the DRB to discuss any questions or concerns you might have.
- Complete and submit your application at least 60 days before your retirement date. It can take up to six weeks for your first retirement benefit check to be processed by the DRB.
- Retirement begins on the 1st of the month following your last day worked.
As you are preparing for retirement, please review our offboarding webpage which provides detailed information on separating from the university.
Per IRS guidelines, withdraws from a TRS DC plan can begin with the member is age 59.5. Withdraws prior to age 59.5 may face additional tax penalties for early withdraw.
Withdraws can only be made from a TRS DC account after you have fully separated from service for 60 days.
No in-service distributions are allowed.
Discuss your financial assets and retirement plan with a financial planner. Financial planners can help you map out and prepare for your retirement from a TRS DC plan.
The UA Benefits team is not able to provide financial planning advice.
A TRS DC plan has a few different options available for retirement withdraws. Please contact the DRB prior to your TRS retirement to discuss your options.
You can access your accounts after you have been separated for 60 days.
If you are separating from the university but are not retiring, there are a few different considerations for your TRS accounts depending on what type of account you have.
- If you are in a Defined Benefit (DB) account, you will want to contact the DRB to determine your vesting status and account options.
- If you are in a Defined Contribution (DC) account, you may either take no action and leave all funds in your TRS DC account, you may rollover your vested funds into another qualified tax-free retirement account such as an IRA, or you can rollover your vested funds into a new employer's eligible retirement account. To confirm your vesting status and discuss what option works best for you, please contact the DRB at 1-800-821-2251.
The university also has an offboarding webpage which provides detailed information on separating from the university.
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