Leaving the OPSEU Pension Plan
before your pension begins
What if you have a deferred pension?
RETIREMENT OPTIONS
If you leave your money with OPTrust and choose a deferred pension entitlement, you receive a deferred pension letter as proof of your deferred status. The letter indicates that you are entitled to a pension, normally payable at age 65, from the OPSEU Pension Trust. You also have the option of a reduced pension payable as early as age 55.
INFLATION PROTECTION
A cost-of-living increase for a deferred pension is applied annually each January after your termination date. It is calculated annually to provide protection from inflation while you wait for your deferred pension payment to start. OPTrust sends a letter to deferred pensioners every year to inform them of the cost-of-living adjustment. Deferred pensions accumulate the cost-of-living adjustments starting the month after termination of employment. Inflation increases are based on increases in the Consumer Price Index in the previous year (see Retiring with a Pension for more information).
REJOINING THE OPSEU PENSION PLAN
If you become a member of the OPSEU Pension Plan when you return to an employer who participates in the Plan, your credit accrued during prior service covered by your deferred entitlement statement is added to your current service. When your service is added, any previous payment made to you (i.e., excess contributions) must be repaid with interest. Otherwise, your pension will be actuarially reduced.
JOINING FROM THE PSPP
If you joined the OPSEU Pension Plan after January 1, 1995, and had a deferred pension from the PSPP, your credit in the PSPP is not automatically added to your credit in the OPSEU Pension Plan. If you have a deferred pension from the PSPP and want information on moving your prior credit to the OPSEU Pension Plan, please contact OPTrust for more information. You have the option of joining the credit or leaving the credit separate.
JOINING THE PSPP
Your credit from the OPSEU Pension Plan is not automatically added to your credit in the PSPP. If you have a deferred pension from the OPSEU Pension Plan after 1994, are planning to join an employer that participates in the PSPP and want information on moving your prior service to the PSPP, please contact the Ontario Pension Board or OPTrust.
JOINING ANY OTHER PENSION PLAN
The OPSEU Pension Plan has transfer agreements with many of the Canadian public and broader public-sector pension plans. If you are joining another pension plan, please notify OPTrust immediately. There are deadlines for transferring your service and we can inform you of the terms of any costs that may be involved. Be sure to read over the separate transfer section.
TAKING THE COMMUTED VALUE UP TO AGE 55
When you have a deferred pension, you can still choose to transfer the commuted value of your pension to another retirement source if you are under the age of 55.
A CHANGE IN YOUR SPOUSAL RELATIONSHIP
If you did not have a spouse when you left the Plan, but you have a spouse when your pension begins, your spouse is eligible for a 60% survivor pension.
You must inform us if you have a new spouse. Because you did not have a spouse at the time of termination, in order to provide the survivor benefit, your pension will be reduced actuarially to pay the full cost of the 60% survivor pension. If you and your spouse waive this benefit, your spouse will not receive survivor benefits. The waiver is not effective unless the form is delivered to OPTrust within 12 months before your pension begins. You must inform the OPTrust of your decision to waive the benefit or to set up a survivor pension for your spouse.