Retirement doesn’t always mean not working. And returning to work doesn’t necessarily mean you have to pause receiving your pension – you just need to be aware of the rules regarding your ASRS pension benefit and returning to work.
Working For a Non-ASRS Employer
The simplest way to navigate working while also collecting your ASRS pension is to work for a non-ASRS employer or as a temporary employee for an ASRS employer. ASRS statutes and rules regarding returning to work after retirement pertain only to returning to work directly with an ASRS employer. If you’re not working for an ASRS employer, you can work as much or as little as you’d like and your ASRS benefit will remain unaffected, and you do not need to notify the ASRS.
Working For an ASRS Employer
For the first 365 days following your termination date, you may return to work directly for an ASRS employer and continue to receive your pension, provided you retired at normal retirement (not early retirement), and:
- Work less than 20 hours per week; or
- Work 20 hours or more a week for no more than 19 weeks in the fiscal year (this is called “the 20/20 Membership Criteria.”) The remaining 33 weeks in that fiscal year must be below 20 hours per week to retain your pension.
After 365 days, you’re eligible to work unlimited hours and continue to draw a pension benefit as long as you retired at normal retirement and terminated your employment with all ASRS employers at your time of retirement. (Members who retired but did not terminate employment must remain under the 20/20 Membership Criteria for the duration of their post-retirement employment if working for an ASRS employer.)
For more comprehensive details on the ins and outs of returning to work, visit the “Return to Work” page of AzASRS.gov, found in the “Retirees” tab. There you’ll discover situation-specific information, statute language, and a link to log into your secure myASRS account. Inside your secure account, you can access our Working After Retirement tool designed to assess how the rules apply to your particular situation.
by Nathaniel Brengle, Strategic Communications
Your Retirement Publication - Q2 2021
