Leaving City Employment
If you leave employment with an employer covered by SFERS membership before you are qualified to retire for service, you have three options for your accumulated contributions: Vesting, Reciprocity, or Refund.
- Vesting: If you earn at least five (5) years of credited service, you may “vest” and leave your contributions and interest in your retirement account, preserving your claim to a vesting allowance in the future. The vesting election is irrevocable. Please see your summary of key plan provisions for information on vesting requirements for your plan.
- Reciprocity: Regardless of years of credited service, if you terminate employment with the City and become a member of another reciprocal California public system, or another SFERS plan within six (6) months after terminating, you may combine your City service with service earned under the reciprocal plan to qualify for retirement in each plan. You are required to leave your contributions plus interest in your SFERS retirement account. SFERS does not have a reciprocal agreement with the University of California Retirement Plan, Judges Retirement System (JRS), Legislator’s Retirement System, State Teacher’s Retirement System, or Federal Employees’ Retirement System
- Refund of Contributions: You can receive a full refund of your retirement account (i.e. employee contributions plus interest). You have two (2) distribution options; a direct distribution to you, or a direct rollover to an IRA or other qualified retirement plan including the City’s 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan (SFDCP). Please allow up to eight (8) weeks for delivery of your distribution. If you have more than five (5) years of credited service, we strongly recommend visiting the SFERS office to speak with a retirement counselor before receiving a refund.
To select one of the options listed above, log in to mySFERS secure member portal and select the “Profile” tab, then “Termination Options Request”. Download, complete and submit the Termination Options Form within 90 days from your separation date by mail to: SFERS, 1145 Market Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103, or deliver your completed form to our secure drop box located on the 6th floor, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
To learn more about SFERS termination options, select the link for your membership group below, select “Benefits”, then “Separation Benefits”.
