How to Transfer a Pension Account to Another State

Taking a Deferred Retirement

Verify that your pension is vested. Once you've worked for a number of years, your pension is considered vested. You and your beneficiaries are entitled to the full amount of contributions made by you, your employer, and the state, as well as insurance and other benefits. Log on to your pension account online or contact your pension administrator to find out if your pension is vested. State employees typically are fully vested after 10 years. In some service positions, you may vest earlier. In some states, such as Washington, you may be fully vested after as soon as 5 years of service. If you have enough years of service that your pension is already vested, there's no point in trying to transfer it to another state. You would lose valuable benefits by doing so.

Complete an application for deferred status. Your pension administrator has a form for you to complete if you are leaving your employer and want to switch your pension account to deferred status. In some states, you may need to file this form before you leave your employer. Check with your pension administrator to make sure. If you have an online account through your plan administrator, you may be able to apply for deferred status online. Once you've submitted your application, you'll receive a status letter confirming the date that your account will go into deferred status. After that date, you won't be able to make any additional contributions to your account.

Keep in touch with your pension administrator. Your pension administrator may still need to communicate important information about your pension to you, even after you're in deferred status. Continually update your address and contact information as needed. You can also update your beneficiary while you're in deferred status. Make sure your beneficiary is current, particularly if you are unmarried and have no minor children.

Notify your plan administrator before you start retirement. If you're in deferred status, contact your plan administrator at least 6 months before you plan to retire. There may be seminars you need to attend or forms you need to fill out. If you don't start the process early with a deferred account, you could end up losing some of your pension benefits.

Requesting a Refund

Evaluate the consequences of requesting a refund. Typically, if you request a refund of the personal contributions you've made into your pension account, you lose all service credits and rights to any future pension or insurance through the pension plan. If you anticipate that your move is only temporary, you may lose more than you gain by pulling your money out of your pension account. Weigh the value of the lifetime pension and insurance against the value of your personal contributions. You may also want to discuss the decision with your family – particularly your spouse, if you're married. Most states only allow you to withdraw your personal contributions plus some of the accumulated interest. You lose contributions made by your employer and state, as well as regular adjustments for inflation.

Calculate how long it will be until you are fully vested. If your pension vests in a year or two, you may want to consider staying on until that time. Deferring your pension after you're fully vested is the only way to get the full value of your pension. You can typically find this information on your latest pension statement, or your online pension account. You can also talk to your plan administrator.

Find out if your state offers partial vesting. A few states provide for partial vesting, which can allow you to at least get some of your pension, while taking a refund for the remainder of your personal contributions that haven't yet vested. This can be beneficial if you have several years to go before you're fully vested. You'll ultimately get more benefit because you won't lose all of the contributions made on your behalf by your employer and the state. Your pension administrator will be able to tell you if partial vesting is available. This information may also be included on your latest pension statement.

Buy service time to become vested. If you're close to vesting, you may be able to buy service credits to reach vested status. At that point, you wouldn't have to worry about transferring your pension at all and could simply defer your retirement. Buying service credits can get expensive, and may not adequately meet your retirement needs. Consult a tax advisor or financial planner if you're not sure what you want to do. Buying service credits typically entails buying the entire cost of contributions and interest. In other words, you're putting into your account what you would have put in had you worked that year. This can add up to tens of thousands of dollars relatively quickly. Some states have online calculators that you can use to determine if the pension benefits you'll receive are worth the cost of buying service time. Check the website of your state's department that administers your retirement benefits.

Ask if you can buy service credits in your new state to compare. Another option you have is to request a refund of your personal contributions from your pension and then use that money to buy service credits in your new state's pension program. Compare the costs of buying service credits in each state so you can choose the one that best suits your needs and your budget. Most states limit the number of service credits you can buy. Depending on how long you worked in the other state, you may not actually be able to buy enough service credits to make up that lost time. Consider the relative value of the benefits offered in one state and those in the other. If your new state's pension plan is significantly more generous than the one you currently have, it may be worth investing in the new state's plan as opposed to trying to keep the old one. You might also think about where you plan to retire. For example, if you are leaving your home state to teach elsewhere, but plan to return to your home state when you retire to be closer to your family, it might make more sense to do what you could to keep the plan in your home state.

Access your account online. Assuming you have an online account with your pension plan administrator, you typically can request a refund of your personal contributions online. Log on to your account and look for a "refunds" option. Follow the prompts to get a refund of your personal contributions. You can also start the refund process by calling your plan administrator or talking to a pensions representative at work.

Request a refund of personal contributions. If you've chosen to have your personal contributions refunded, you are entitled only to the money you've put into the plan personally, plus a small amount of interest. Your online account will show you exactly how much money you've put into the plan. Typically you cannot withdraw only part of your personal contributions. You must withdraw all of the money or none at all. If you withdraw your personal contributions before you've vested, you may face tax consequences as well as early withdrawal penalties. You may be able to avoid tax consequences by transferring your personal contributions to an approved tax-deferred retirement plan rather than having them refunded directly to you.

Using a Tax-Deferred Retirement Plan

Total your untaxed personal contributions and interest. If you have personal contributions that were made before taxes were taken out of your paychecks, you may have to pay tax on them if you withdraw them. You would also have to pay taxes on any accrued interest. If untaxed funds represent a significant portion of your contributions and interest, transferring them to a tax-deferred retirement plan can save you significantly on your tax bill. Unless you transfer your funds to a qualified plan, your plan administrator is required to withhold 20 percent of the amount for taxes. As with a direct refund, you can only withdraw your personal contributions and some interest. Any employer or state contributions remain in the trust fund.

Talk to your plan administrator. Your plan administrator can let you know what types of retirement accounts are qualified to roll over your pension contributions without tax consequences. They may also have providers they could recommend. Ask your plan administrator about the transfer process, including how long it takes to move the funds from one account to the other, and when you will have access to your funds.

Consult a tax advisor or financial planner. If you make a mistake or use the wrong type of retirement account to transfer your pension contributions, you could face significant tax consequences. A tax advisor will be able to help you choose the right account for your needs. A financial planner can also help you re-evaluate your retirement planning in light of the funds you've lost by withdrawing from your pension early.

Wait until you've stopped working at your old job. In most cases, you cannot roll over funds from your pension to a retirement account until after you've stopped working and no further contributions are being made to your pension. Typically, your employer will provide your pension administrator with the date of your last day of work. There may be a waiting period after that date for you to move your pension funds.

Establish an IRA (individual retirement account). You'll need an existing IRA or similar retirement account already set up to transfer your pension funds. This may require making an initial deposit to open the account. There are some IRA accounts that you can open with a balance less than $100. Shop around to find the account that best meets your needs. If you already have investment accounts with a bank or brokerage, you may want to start there.

Roll over your pension funds to your IRA. Provide your pension administrator with information about the retirement account where you want to transfer your contributions. They will confirm the account and initiate the transfer. Your pension administrator will have forms for you to fill out. If you have an online account, you may be able to complete the transfer online.