Even after you retire, it’s important to stay informed about your NYSLRS benefits. Here are ten things every NYSLRS retiree should know.
- Your retirement benefits are guaranteed by the State Constitution. Under Article 5, Section 7, your pension benefit cannot be “diminished or impaired.”
- The Common Retirement Fund, the pool of money your retirement benefits are paid from, is safe and secure. It has been widely recognized as one of the best-funded and best-managed public pension funds in the nation.
- Your NYSLRS pension is not subject to New York State or local income taxes, but it may be subject to federal income tax. Visit our Taxes and Your Pension page for more information.
- If you move to another state, your pension may be subject to that state’s income tax. Find out which states tax NYSLRS pensions.
- More than 95 percent of NYSLRS retirees use direct deposit for their monthly payment and their payments promptly arrive in their accounts on the last business day of each month. You can find out when your next pension payment is coming by checking our online pension payment calendar.
- You can stay informed about your benefits with Retirement Online. Creating an account is easy, and in many cases, you can use Retirement Online instead of sending in forms or calling NYSLRS.
- If you need proof of your retirement income to rent an apartment or get a mortgage, you can generate a pension verification letter in Retirement Online.
- Once you become eligible for a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), you will receive annual increases in your pension amount. When your net benefit amount changes, NYSLRS will inform you.
- Your beneficiaries may be entitled to a death benefit after you die.
- A Guide for Retirees is a handy resource on our website. It provides important information about your benefits and the services NYSLRS provides for its retirees.
Not retired yet? Read our blog post Ten Things Every NYSLRS Member Should Know.
Still waiting for a recalculation. It’s now over 2 years! Can we please get an official explanation from Mr. DiNapoli? Is he aware of this?
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Don’t kid yourself for a second. NYSLRS is completely corrupt and will go to GREAT lengths to deny your disability retirement application, including falsely abandoning your application after failing to provide service of process, and withholding via misrepresentation of fact, critical documents in their possession, in order to deny your claim. And, if you have a psychological disablement, they will categorically deny you, violating the ADA and ERISA as well as NYS Mental Health & Hygiene Law. If you have a mental health disablement, they cannot force you to proceed on your own without an attorney, and they will deny use of a POA and a representative in violation of Federal and State Law. Then, when you get denied, or while making you wait (in my case for 8 years), you will offer you the BRIP which is nothing more than fully taxable benefits although they will tell you the benefits are non-taxable, and will further cause your SSD benefits to be taxable.
I retired in April 2020 and like many am still waiting for my final pension calculation to include my maximum annual leave and maximum sick leave at time of retirement. I received the standard reply of we are working in these calculations and have minimal impact when I inquired about a year ago and again last week. I find the response unsatisfactory given OSC’s usual attentiveness in response. Similar to others in this same situation, I do not agree with the assertion of minimal impact when you factor in a recalculation using maximum sick leave and significant annual leave. It should not take 2 years plus to finalize a pension calculation.
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Since a lot of people here are asking the same question regarding the final calculation of our pensions and the amount of time it’s taking to do them. Can you give us an idea of the time period that is currently being worked on? Example 1st quarter of 2020.
I retired on 8/17/2019 and I am still waiting. Received the standard reply of retro pay and minimal impact when I inquired about a year ago. I find the response frustrating considering the negative effect of today’s inflation on a fixed pension. Additionally, I disagree with the assertion of minimal impact when you factor in a recalculation using maximum sick leave and significant annual leave. Three plus years and waiting…
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Why was my monthly payment reduced? No notifications or reason to reduction of payment.
If you have not yet received a notification about your pension payment, please email our customer service representatives using our secure email form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.
I have been trying to contact NYSLRS by phone for the past three weeks. All I get is a recorded message telling me to call back the next business day because all customer representatives are busy. This is a terrible way to treat people! I am missing my direct deposit payment for August 31 and presently am unable to pay my rent. What am I to do???
We’d like to help resolve your issue. Your message is important to us and we have sent you a private message in response.
I am waiting for my final pension benefit calculation. I have been retired since June 29, 2021. When might the final calculation be done?
When you retire, your pension payment is based on the salary and service information we have on file for you at retirement. In some cases, slight adjustments are made to the initial amount after we receive and process final payroll information from your employer. These recalculations are processed in date order and are generally minimal compared to the overall benefit amount.
Once we have all the information we need and we finalize your benefit amount, if your payment increases, you will receive a retroactive payment for the amount you are owed back to your date of retirement.
I understand when might that calculation be redone? Should I contact my former employer to see if they have sent you everything? It’s been a year. Thank you for your time.
Add to the above list one more thing retirees should know – an estimate of when their final benefit calculation will be done! Like so many others who have retired many months or even years ago, when I inquire of NYSLRS when this will be done, I receive the stock answer : words to the effect of “We can’t give you any idea of when, but it won’t increase your benefit that much anyway so don’t worry about it.” Can NYSLRS answer this question : Is there any plan being advanced to address the backlog that has developed of retirees who are waiting for these calculations to be finished? As another poster has said – indeed somebody is not doing their job,
I am also waiting for my final pension benefit calculation. At the end of May, it will be 2 years since I retired and the retro raise also has not been added to my benefit. Since I had applied to have previous service credit added to my time in service in February 2020 (4 months prior to retiring), the NYSLRS has added that process to the one assessing my final benefit calculation. So, as I will still need to make a repayment for that former time in service, this will clearly even further extend the final benefit calculation. In August 2020, I had submitted the specific social security records for that time period of previous service and received confirmed receipt of the records. I have continued to check in with the customer rep line and on the portal, and, to date, there has been no work done on my behalf since 8/2020 when I received an acknowledgement of receipt of the social security information. What I am told when I call and inquire of any forward movement on my pension calculation is they can tell me nothing. Literally, that is what I was told.
If someone in the agency has any information to share with me, it would be greatly appreciated. The continued waiting and consistent inquiries that provide no information is frustrating with a deep sense of uncertainty and feels like the retirees are put aside in a vacuum.
Thank you.
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I just got my first pension check and noticed that Medicare reimbusement credit does not show. How long does it take to get this. Also my Medicare payment is 340.20 based upon my income. I beleive that i should get the 170.10 credited to pension and the other amount 170.10 woulkd bew reimbursed at the end of the year after I send in a form. Am I correct
NYSLRS does not administer health insurance programs for its retirees. Unless they are receiving reimbursement from another source, the Department of Civil Service reimburses retired State and public authority employees who are enrolled in the New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP) the usual cost of the Medicare Part B (medical insurance) premium through their retirement benefit. For more information about Medicare reimbursement, please call the Department of Civil Service at 1-800-833-4344 or 518-457-5754 or email them at pio@cs.ny.gov.
Thank you for keeping NYSLRS strong.
A few years ago I was out on worker’s compensation,can I get that time back
Thank you
For answers to your questions about service credit, please email our customer service representatives using our secure email form. Filling out the secure form allows them to safely contact you about your personal account information.
Turbo Tax offers a discount when taxes are finished and filed by February 28th. When will our tax documents be received and why can’t those forms be obtained through our online accounts?
NYSLRS 1099-Rs are not currently available online.
You can request a reprint of your 1099-R using our online form. The reprint will be mailed to the address we have on file for you.
The best way to check your mailing address, and update it if necessary, is by signing in to your Retirement Online account. If you don’t have an account, go to the Sign In page and click the “Sign Up” link under the “Customer Sign In” button.
You can also update your address using our secure contact form. If you need help with Retirement Online, please call our customer service representatives at 1-866-805-0990, press 2, then follow the prompts.
Are there any plans to enable getting the 1099-R electronically?
Thank for the info. So very helpful!
We’re glad you found it helpful. Thanks for the feedback.
Yes – we would like to access them on-line and print ourselves.
Make sure your address on file is correct. I received mine at the end of January. W-2 forms are not forwarded by the post office.
Thank you Staff for keeping us retirees informed.
Thank you for your feedback.
unable to get into my account
We apologize for the trouble you are having.
For help with Retirement Online, please call our customer service representatives at 1-866-805-0990 (or 518-474-7736 in the Albany, NY area), press 2, then follow the prompts.
Been retired 2 years still no final average salary what’s going on !!!!
The NYSLRS Social Media Team does not have access to your account information, but we’d like to help. We recommend you email our customer service representatives using our secure email form. Filling out the secure form allows our representatives to safely contact you about your personal account information.
I’m waiting 23 months for my final pension calculation as well. No need to contact them because they continue to say there is no timetable and they will not give any other information. I tried three times.
I’ve been retired one year and was wondering the same.
When you retire, your pension payment is based on the salary and service information we have on file for you at retirement. In some cases, slight adjustments are made to the initial amount after we receive and process final payroll information from your employer. These recalculations are processed in date order and are generally minimal compared to the overall benefit amount.
Once we have all the information we need and we finalize your benefit amount, if your payment increases, you will receive a retroactive payment for the amount you are owed back to your date of retirement.
I also have been retired since August 2020. You have had all the payroll and accrual information needed from my agency to calculate my pension since 2020 to no avail.
I have also received a retro raise that’s never been added and recalculated to my pension effective June 2021. This is not acceptable. Retirees should not have to wait months let alone years to receive money earned and due to them. Nor should it be acceptable to receive years of back pay. Simple payroll calculations should be easy. Someone isn’t doing their job. Maybe the Attorney General’s Office and the Better Business Bureau should be notified since it’s impossible to speak with a rep in your agency.
We would like to help resolve your issue. We have sent you a private message in response.