Deferring your retirement membership means you leave your funds in your account at CCCERA earning interest. This means:

• Your contributions will continue to earn interest until you withdraw them or retire, which you must do no later than April 1 following the year you turn 73*.
• If you have five or more years of service credit and leave your funds on deposit until you are age 52, you will qualify to begin receiving a monthly retirement benefit when you apply for retirement.
• Regardless of the number of years of service credit, if you leave your funds on deposit until you are age 70, you will qualify to begin receiving a monthly retirement benefit when you apply for retirement.
• If you return to membership with CCCERA before retirement, you will already have some service credit toward retirement established.
• As opposed to taking a refund at the time of termination, if you defer your retirement and you return to membership, you will not have to redeposit any money to regain service credit.
• If you go to work for a reciprocal system within six months or one year if termination is due to layoff, you can choose to link your benefits with CCCERA.

If you leave membership in CCCERA, and do not declare whether to defer or to take a refund, CCCERA will default your choice to deferred membership.

*Distribution of a member’s benefit must begin by the required beginning date, which is the later of the April 1 following the calendar year in which the member attains age 70½ if reached by December 31, 2019, age 72 if reached between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2022, or age 73 if reached on or after January 1, 2023, or April 1 of the year following the calendar year in which the member terminates. Additional information can be found in the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022), Section 114.