In general, vesting refers to a member’s ability to refund all of their contributions paid into a retirement plan. In ASRS terms, our members are ‘vested’ with their first contribution towards their retirement. This allows our members to take retirement even if they only have one month of service credit with the ASRS and would be eligible for ASRS health insurance.
When an ASRS member terminates their employment, they would have the option to refund all of their contributions plus any applicable interest.
Typically, our members will inquire about vesting when they are looking into refunding their ASRS account. Members who began contributing before July 1, 2011 may be eligible to receive some or all of their employer’s matching contributions when they terminate all ASRS employment and elect to forfeit their ASRS membership and refund. However, members who began contributing on or after July 1, 2011 would typically only be entitled to their own contributions and not their employer's matching contributions; the only time they may be entitled to all or some of their employer's contributions would be if they were terminated due to a reduction in force (RIF).
Please keep in mind that the goal of an ASRS account is to provide a guaranteed lifetime monthly benefit upon retirement. In addition, a member’s account balance is not considered in determining their pension benefit and The Pension Benefit Formula will break down the monthly benefit calculation.
Additional information for members wishing to refund their ASRS account can be found on our Refunding Your Account and Terminating ASRS Membership webpage.
If a member has questions regarding their eligibility, please refer them to the ASRS Member Advisory Center.
