1. In lieu of the retirement benefits otherwise provided upon service retirement for members of the system and the members’ beneficiaries, members may elect to receive an optional retirement benefit during the member’s lifetime and have the optional retirement benefit, or a designated fraction of the optional retirement benefit, continued and paid to the member’s beneficiary after the member’s death and during the lifetime of the beneficiary.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 97A.6A

  • Actuarial equivalent: shall mean a benefit of equal value, when computed upon the basis of mortality tables adopted by the board of trustees, and interest computed at a rate adopted by the board upon the recommendation of the actuary. See Iowa Code 97A.1
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Beneficiary: shall mean any person receiving a retirement allowance or other benefit as provided by this chapter. See Iowa Code 97A.1
  • Board of trustees: means the board created in section 97A. See Iowa Code 97A.1
  • Child: includes only an individual who is under the age of eighteen years, an individual who is under the age of twenty-two and is a full-time student, or an individual who is disabled under the definitions used in section 202 of the Social Security Act as amended if the disability occurred to the individual during the time the individual was under the age of eighteen years and the parent of the individual was an active member of the system. See Iowa Code 97A.1
  • Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
  • System: shall mean the Iowa department of public safety peace officers' retirement, accident, and disability system as defined in section 97A. See Iowa Code 97A.1
 2. The member shall make the election request in writing to the board of trustees at the time of the member’s service retirement. The election is subject to the approval of the board of trustees. If the member is married, the election of an option under this section requires the written acknowledgment of the member’s spouse.
 3. A member’s optional retirement benefits shall be the actuarial equivalent of the amount of the retirement benefits payable to the member and the member’s beneficiaries under the service retirement provisions of this chapter. The actuarial equivalent shall be based on the mortality and interest assumptions set out in section 97A.5.
 4. If the member dies without a beneficiary prior to receipt in benefits of an amount equal to the total amount remaining to the member’s credit at the time of separation from service, the election is void.
 5. If the member dies with a beneficiary and the beneficiary subsequently dies prior to receipt in retirement benefits by both the member and the beneficiary of an amount equal to the total amount remaining to the member’s credit at the time of separation from service, the election remains valid.
 6. For the purpose of this section, “beneficiary” means a spouse, child, or a dependent parent.
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