West Virginia Code 5-10-21a – Deferred retirement and early retirement for new members as of July 1, 2015
(a) Any person who first becomes a member of the retirement system on or after July 1, 2015, who has ten or more years of contributing service and who leaves the employ of a participating public employer prior to attaining age sixty-two years for any reason except his or her disability or death, is entitled to an annuity computed according to section twenty-two of this article, as that section was in force as of the date of his or her separation from the employ of a participating public employer: Provided, That he or she does not withdraw his or her accumulated contributions from the members' deposit fund: Provided, however, That his or her annuity shall begin the first day of the calendar month next following the month in which his or her application for same is filed with the board of trustees on or after his or her attaining age sixty-four years.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 5-10-21a
- Accumulated contributions: means the sum of all amounts deducted from the compensations of a member and credited to his or her individual account in the members' deposit fund, together with regular interest on the contributions. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
- Actuarial equivalent: means a benefit of equal value computed upon the basis of a mortality table and regular interest adopted by the board of trustees from time to time: . See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
- Annuity: means an annual amount payable by the retirement system throughout the life of a person. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
- 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.
- board: means the Board of Trustees of the West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
- Contributing service: means service rendered by a member within this state and for which the member made contributions to a public retirement system account of this state, to the extent credited him or her as provided by this article. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
- Member: means any person who has accumulated contributions standing to his or her credit in the members' deposit fund. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
- Participating public employer: means the State of West Virginia, any board, commission, department, institution, or spending unit, and includes any agency created by rule of the Supreme Court of Appeals having full-time employees, which for the purposes of this article is considered a department of state government. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
- Retirement: means a member's withdrawal from the employ of a participating public employer and the commencement of an annuity by the retirement system. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
- Service: means personal service rendered to a participating public employer by an employee of a participating public employer. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
- system: means the West Virginia Public Employees Retirement System created and established by this article. See West Virginia Code 5-10-2
(b) Any member who qualifies for deferred retirement benefits in accordance with subsection (a) of this section and has twenty or more years of contributing service in force is entitled to an annuity computed as in subsection (a) of this section: Provided, That his or her annuity shall begin the first day of the calendar month next following the month in which his or her application for same is filed with the board of trustees on or after his or her attaining age sixty-three.
(c) Notwithstanding any of the other provisions of this section or of this article, except sections twenty-seven-a and twenty-seven-b of this article, and pursuant to rules promulgated by the board, any member who first becomes a member of the retirement system on or after July 1, 2015, has ten or more years of contributing service in force, is currently employed by a participating public employer and who elects to take early retirement, which for the purposes of this subsection means retirement following attainment of age sixty but prior to attaining age sixty-two, is entitled to the full computation of annuity according to section twenty-two of this article but with the reduced actuarial equivalent of the annuity the member would have received if his or her benefit had commenced at age sixty-two when he or she would have been entitled to full computation of benefit without any reduction: Provided, That his or her annuity shall begin the first day of the calendar month next following the month in which his or her application for same is filed with the board of trustees on or after his or her attaining age sixty.
(d) Any member who first becomes a member of the retirement system on or after July 1, 2015, and has twenty or more years of contributing service in force, is currently employed by a participating public employer and who elects to take early retirement, which for the purposes of this subsection means retirement following attainment of age fifty-seven but prior to attaining age sixty-two, is entitled to the full computation of annuity according to section twenty-two of this article but with the reduced actuarial equivalent of the annuity the member would have received if his or her benefit had commenced at age sixty-two when he or she would have been entitled to full computation of benefit without any reduction: Provided, That his or her annuity shall begin the first day of the calendar month next following the month in which his or her application for same is filed with the board of trustees on or after his or her attaining age fifty-seven.
(e) Any member who first becomes a member of the retirement system on or after July 1, 2015, and has thirty or more years of contributing service in force, and who elects to take early retirement, which for the purposes of this subsection means retirement following attainment of age fifty-five but prior to attaining age sixty-two, is entitled to the full computation of annuity according to section twenty-two of this article but with the reduced actuarial equivalent of the annuity the member would have received if his or her benefit had commenced at age sixty-two when he or she would have been entitled to full computation of benefit without any reduction: Provided, That his or her annuity shall begin the first day of the calendar month next following the month in which his or her application for same is filed with the board of trustees on or after his or her attaining age fifty-five.