Separation Benefits

Separation occurs when you leave employment with your SFERS-covered position before you are qualified to retire for service. When you separate, you have three options for your accumulated contributions: Vesting, Reciprocity, or refund.

Safety Separation Benefits

Below are the separation benefits for Safety Plans: New Plan Tier III – A8.604 (Fire) & A8.605 (Police), New Plan Tier II – A8.601 (Fire) & A8.602 (Police), and New Plan Tier I – A8.597 (Police) & A8.598 (Fire).

Vesting

Qualifications to Elect Vesting	– Any Age – Five years or more of credited service with SFERS or in combination with SFERS and another reciprocal system(s) – Leave your contributions on account with SFERS – Select “Vest in Retirement Account” at separation
Qualifying Age to Apply for Vesting Benefit	Age 50
Vesting Benefit Calculation	Credited Service x Age Factor x Average Monthly Pensionable Compensation

Reciprocity

Qualifications to Elect Reciprocity

– Separate from employment with a reciprocal plan
– Become a member of SFERS within 6 months after your separation date

or

– Separate from employment with SFERS
– Select “Reciprocity” at separation
– Become a member of a reciprocal plan within 6 months after your separation date

Refund

Qualifications to Elect a Refund

– Less than five years of credited service with SFERS or in combination with SFERS and another reciprocal system(s)
– Five years or more of credited service with SFERS or in combination with SFERS and another reciprocal system(s) and elect not to vest or retire for service
– Withdraw account contributions (taxable) or rollover account contributions to another qualified plan (tax-deferred)

Vesting

When you leave employment with the City before you are qualified to retire for service, you may “vest” and preserve your claim to a future monthly benefit.

To qualify for vesting:

you have five years or more of credited service with SFERS or in combination with SFERS and another reciprocal system(s)
you leave your contributions on account with SFERS until at least age 50 when you are eligible to claim a vesting benefit

Rules to Vest

If you qualify and want to vest when you separate from employment, follow these steps:

Log in to the mySFERS secure member portal and select the “Profile” tab. Then select “Termination Options Request” to download and print the SFERS Termination Options Form.

Check the box next to “Vest in Retirement Account” and complete the Termination Options Form according to the instructions provided.

Submit the completed Termination Options Form along with proof that you have separated from employment (this could be a department-issued Separation Report or your employment status according to the City’s payroll records). You have 90 days from your separation date (your last day of employment) to submit the completed form. You can mail your completed form to SFERS or drop it off in our lock box located on the 6^th floor of our building. You do not need an appointment to make a vesting election.

Estimate Your Vesting Benefit

Claiming Your Vesting Benefit

You may claim your vesting benefit as early as age 50. See your Summary of Key Plan Provisions for vesting eligibility.

Follow these steps:

Calculate an Estimate of your Benefit: You can feel confident about the monthly benefit you will receive by calculating an estimate of your benefit. Log in to mySFERS secure member portal and select the “Benefit Calculator” tab, then the applicable vesting calculator. The SFERS benefit calculators are accessible 24/7.

Counseling sessions are reserved for members who are ready to complete the retirement application. Log in to mySFERS secure member portal and select the “Appointment Scheduler” tab. Click on the box for “Retirement” appointments.

A Retirement Counselor will assist you with completing your retirement application. Counseling sessions are conducted by phone or MS Teams and can last up to two hours, so please plan accordingly.

To help you get ready for your appointment, please review the Retirement Appointment Checklist. We will also discuss your benefit payment options and the significance of designating a beneficiary in detail. To help you prepare for this discussion, please select the link below to review SFERS’ benefit payment options.

Benefit Payment Options Table

You will need the following for your appointment:
– Valid picture ID or passport
– Original certified marriage/domestic partnership certificate
– Original certified birth certificate of spouse/domestic partner or designated beneficiary
– Spouse’s/Domestic Partner’s Social Security Number
– Unmarried child or children (under 18) date of birth and Social Security Number
– Separation Report (if you have separated within 90 days of completing the retirement application)

Reciprocity

SFERS, CalPERS, and certain other California public retirement systems provide “reciprocal” retirement benefits. Under reciprocity, if you work for more than one eligible California public agency, you may combine credited service earned under each reciprocal retirement system to qualify for retirement in each plan as long as, the reciprocal service is uninterrupted.

Download our Reciprocity Brochure

Rules for Reciprocity

Members have the following options for reciprocity:

Option 1: Become a member of SFERS

Terminate employment with CalPERS or another reciprocal retirement system, and within six (6) months after your termination date, become a member of SFERS

Option 2: Terminate employment from your SFERS-covered position

Terminate employment from your SFERS-covered position and become a member of a reciprocal system within six (6) months after your termination date from your SFERS-covered position.

You must be completely separated from your SFERS-covered employment before becoming a member of a new reciprocal plan (membership in two retirement plans at the same time disqualifies reciprocal benefits).
You have credited service earned and/or contributions on account with the reciprocal system(s) as of your termination date from the reciprocal system(s), and on your effective membership date with SFERS
At retirement, you must apply to retire from each system separately using the same retirement date
When you retire simultaneously from all systems, your highest pensionable compensation earned with any of the reciprocal systems will be used to calculate your benefits in each system (given the system uses a retirement formula based on compensation).

Make an Election for Reciprocity

Below are the options for making an election for reciprocity.

Coming to Work for the City

If you terminated employment from a reciprocal retirement system within six (6) months of being hired in a SFERS-covered position, you can make an election for reciprocity during the new member enrollment process.

Leaving City Employment

These are the steps to take if you are leaving your SFERS covered position and considering employment with another public agency:

Log in to the mySFERS secure member portal and select the “Profile” tab. Then select “Termination Options Request” to download and print the SFERS Termination Options Form.

Check the box next to “Reciprocity” and complete the Termination Options Form according to the instructions provided. If you have 5 or more years of credited service, you can elect to vest and you will automatically be eligible for reciprocity should you meet the qualifications.

Submit the completed Termination Options Form to SFERS within 90 days from your separation date (your last day of employment). You can mail your completed form to SFERS or drop it off in our lock box located on the 6^th floor of our building.

To inquire about the potential impact on your retirement benefits should you join a reciprocal agency, e-mail SFERS at [email protected]. You do not need an appointmentto make an election for reciprocity.

For a list of reciprocal retirement systems, visit the CalPERS website and view Publication 16, “When You Change Retirement Systems”.

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 or Rollover of Contributions

If you leave employment with the City before you are qualified to retire for service or eligible to vest, you can receive a full refund of your contributions.

To qualify for a refund of contributions:

you have Less than five years of credited service with SFERS or in combination with SFERS and another reciprocal system(s)
you have Five years or more of credited service with SFERS or in combination with SFERS and another reciprocal system(s) and elect not to vest or retire for service

Refunded contributions are subject to federal and/or state taxes. To defer paying taxes, you may elect to directly roll over your refunded contributions to another qualified plan or individual retirement account (e.g. 401(k) or IRA).

To Elect a Refund or Rollover of Contributions

These are the steps to take if you are leaving your SFERS covered position and taking a refund of your contributions:

Log in to the mySFERS secure member portal and select the “Profile” tab. Then select “Termination Options Request” to download and print the SFERS Termination Options Form.

Check the box next to “Refund” on the Termination Options Form and complete the form according to the instructions provided.

Submit the completed Termination Options Form along with proof that you have separated from employment (this could be a department-issued Separation Report or your employment status according to the City’s payroll records) within 90 days from your separation date (your last day of employment). You can mail your completed form to SFERS or drop it off in our lock box located on the 6^th floor of our building. We cannot start the refund or rollover process until we receive proof of separation. You do not need an appointment to request a refund of contributions.

Refunds are processed within eight (8) weeks from the latter of the refund request date, your separation date, or the date of your last paycheck.

Accepting a refund of your retirement contributions terminates your claim to any future benefit from the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System. A refund may also impact your claim to CCSF retiree health benefits. Contact the Health Service System directly at (628)-652-4700 prior to electing a refund.

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