Retirement Pension Plan for Select Part-Time Employees

New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS)

Available only to Instructional Staff and a select group of other eligible NYSTRS titles determined by the New York State Teachers' Retirement System

NYSTRS is a defined benefit plan (traditional pension plan).  Retirement (pension) benefits will depend on the results of a calculation at the time of retirement that takes into account your Final Average Salary, number of years of credited service, and your age at the time of retirement.  The vesting period (period of time before you are eligible for a retirement benefit) is five years of credited service. Part-time employees may take longer than five years of credited service. For membership, benefits, and other plan-related information, please visit www.nystrs.org or call (800) 348-7298.

Required contributions (Membership Tier 6)

If you enroll in NYSTRS, you must make contributions. The current required employee contribution rate is based on regular compensation, as follows:

Wages of $45,000 or less....................................................3%
Wages of $45,000.01 to $55,000.....................................3.5%
Wages of $55,000.01 to $75,000..................…................4.5%
Wages of $75,000.01 to $100,000...................................5.75%
Wages of more than $100,000...........................................6%

Employee contributions are taken from each semi-monthly paycheck and are not subject to Federal Income Tax, but are subject to New York State Income Tax and local income taxes, FICA, and Medicare taxes.

Enrollment

To enroll in NYSTRS, you must complete an Application for Membership (.pdf), which must be notarized, and the original application must be submitted to the Payroll Department at 333 7th Ave, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10001.

Previous New York State Public Retirement System Membership or Eligibility

If you were previously a member of NYSTRS or another New York State public retirement system, you may be eligible to be reinstated into your former membership tier.  To apply for reinstatement, you must file an Election to Reinstate (RIS-1) form with NYSTRS.  Please consult with NYSTRS to determine the advantages of reinstating to an earlier membership tier.

If you were previously eligible for membership in a New York State public retirement system but did not join, it may be possible for you to purchase and receive prior service credit. Please review NYSTRS’ “Your Service Credit Matters (.pdf)” information. To apply for prior service credit, you must complete the Prior Service Claim (PRS-2) Form (.pdf) and the Verification of NYS Teaching (PRS-3) Form (.pdf) and submit the forms to the Payroll Department. Receiving prior service credit does not change your date of membership (membership tier) unless it is the result of a membership reinstatement or membership transfer.

Once you are an enrolled member, you should register for a NYSTRS online account.