Tennessee Code 8-3955 – Benefits – Computation of obligations between systems
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 8-3955
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Creditable service: means prior service plus membership service, as provided in part 6 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
- Member: means any person included in the membership of the retirement system, as provided in chapter 35, part 1 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Prior service: means service rendered prior to the date of membership in the retirement system for which credit was given under the terms of one (1) or more of the superseded systems as provided in part 6 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
- Retirement: means withdrawal from membership with a retirement allowance granted under chapters 34-37 of this title. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
- Retirement system: means the Tennessee consolidated retirement system as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
- Service: means service as a general employee, a teacher, a state police officer, a wildlife officer, a firefighter, a police officer, a state judge, a county judge, an attorney general, a commissioner or a county official which is paid for by an employer, and also includes service for which a former member of the general assembly is entitled to under former §. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
- State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 8-34-101
Upon becoming a member of the retirement system to which a person has transferred, such member shall thereafter be entitled to the rights, benefits, and annuities as are provided in such retirement system; provided, however, anything to the contrary notwithstanding, that upon retirement the allowances and benefits shall be calculated as though the time which was served and credited while such person was a member of the retirement system from which he or she transferred shall be counted and credited as though such person had been a member of the retirement system to which he or she transferred during such period of time; provided, further, that the retirement system from which a transfer was made shall pay monthly to the other retirement system that portion of the monthly benefits attributed to the retired member’s creditable service in the retirement system from which the member transferred, less any annuities or other benefits calculated at retirement and applicable to Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association or the federal civil service retirement system and less the state annuity and death benefits payable for prior service under §§ 8-3933 and 8-3937 for those members transferring from the University of Tennessee retirement system. In computing the respective obligations of the two (2) retirement systems, the member’s creditable service in both retirement systems shall be combined, and the “average final compensation” shall be determined by the highest average earned in either or both retirement systems. Each retirement system’s obligation for monthly benefits shall be the same percentage of the total monthly benefits as the percentage of creditable service in that particular retirement system is to the total combined creditable service of the member in both retirement systems.