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We are pleased to announce a new, long-term contract with Nationwide Retirement Solutions (Nationwide) to continue providing supplemental savings plans with solid investment choices and professional oversight for ASRS members. Nationwide has been an outstanding, trusted partner to our organization, and this new contract ensures they will continue to support our members' retirement goals for the foreseeable future.

If you are starting to think about retiring and drawing a pension from the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS), you may find yourself wondering about your options if you’d like to later return to work. The choice is yours – you can certainly keep collecting a monthly pension from the ASRS and go back to work, but it’s important to make sure you proceed in a manner that doesn’t impact your pension. 

Choosing Where to Work

Account security is always a top priority for the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS), and one of our biggest protections against fraud is our members' vigilance and safe practices.

One common way malicious actors attempt to gain access to your sensitive retirement information is through spoofed websites. These fake sites are designed to mimic real websites, tricking you into entering your username and password, which can then be stolen and used to compromise your account. 

Protecting yourself starts with careful observation and healthy online habits:

Once we receive your application, we enter your information into our system, validate it for compliance, and place it in either a ‘hold’ queue (if we need additional information before calculating your benefit) or a ‘processing’ queue (if no further information is required to proceed.)  Please note that although the ASRS may receive your retirement application before your retirement date, we cannot begin calculating your benefits until the retirement date has passed.

As you contribute to your ASRS retirement account, you may find yourself wondering, “When can I Retire?” There are actually a number of different combinations of criteria that can be used to determine when you’re eligible for “normal” ASRS retirement. Due to changes in law over time, a primary factor is your ASRS membership date.

If you began contributing before June 30, 2011, you are able to utilize the 80 points system.

If you’ve recently changed ASRS employers, don’t forget to update your myASRS account! Every ASRS employer has a unique enrollment code they provide to all their new employees - it’s important to go through the online re-enrollment process with your new employer’s enrollment code to ensure that your information on file is completely up-to-date.

When you begin employment with a new ASRS employer: 

Keeping your information secure and out of the reach of cybercriminals has never been more important. Phishing attacks – a type of fraud meant to trick you into providing sensitive information – can happen through emails, text messages, or even phone calls. Typically, attackers disguise themselves as a trusted source in an attempt to steal confidential information.