Elected Officials
Elected Officials
Normal Retirement Eligibility
If you were first elected before November 1, 2011:
- Age 60 – You can begin receiving full, unreduced retirement benefits when you are at least age 60 with six* years of full-time-equivalent participation as an elected official; or
- 80 Points – You can begin receiving full, unreduced retirement benefits when the sum of your age and years of service equals 80.
If you were first elected on or after November 1, 2011:
- Age 62 – You can begin receiving full, unreduced retirement benefits when you are at least age 62 with 10 years of full-time-equivalent participation as an elected official; or
- Age 65 – You can begin receiving full, unreduced retirement benefits when you are at least age 65 with eight years of full-time equivalent participation as an elected official.
Early Retirement Eligibility
If you were first elected before November 1, 2011:
- You can begin receiving reduced retirement benefits once you have reached age 55 and have at least 10 years of participating service.
If you were first elected on or after November 1, 2011:
- You can begin receiving reduced retirement benefits once you have reached age 60 and have at least 10 years of participating elected service.
If you choose early retirement, you will receive a permanent actuarial reduction in your benefit based on your age at retirement.
* In this scenario, a member only needs six full years of full-time-equivalent participation as an elected official and must be actively employed with a participating OPERS employer at the applicable age to become eligible for normal retirement.
* Those who became members of OPERS after January 1, 1983, must have at least six complete years of full-time-equivalent employment to be eligible to retire.