If you are a member with TDA Deferral status, or have separated from service through resignation or termination, or have reached age 59½, you can request a direct withdrawal from your TDA program account. If you are an in-service member not in TDA Deferral status and under age 59½ and experiencing a sudden and heavy financial hardship, you can request a hardship withdrawal from your TDA program account. All hardship withdrawals (except those based on domestic abuse) require documentation to substantiate the request.
 

You may withdraw your QPP funds in the following cases:

• You are a non-vested member in any tier;
• You are a vested Tier I or II member;
• You are a vested Tier III or IV member who has at least five, but less than ten, years of TRS membership service.

QPP funds available for withdrawal would include:

• For Tiers I and II members—Your Annuity Savings Fund (ASF) balance.
• For Tiers III, IV, and VI members—Your Member Contributions Accumulation Fund (MCAF) and your Annuity Savings Accumulation Fund (ASAF) balances.

If you are a Tier II, III, or IV member who participated in the Age 55 Retirement Program and you were laid off from your TRS-eligible position for reasons of economic hardship, you may also withdraw the balance in the employee portion of the Additional Member Contributions (AMCs) you made under this program (less any deficits in the employer portion of your AMCs). For all other members, AMCs are not refundable.

No partial withdrawals are allowed. To withdraw your funds, you must file an Application for Withdrawal of QPP Accumulations (code RW41). If you elect to directly roll over all or part of the taxable portion of your withdrawal to one or more eligible Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) or other successor programs, you must attach a completed QPP Direct Rollover Election Form (code RW29) with your QPP withdrawal application. In all cases, the tax-free portion of your withdrawal will be paid directly to you.

If you withdraw your QPP funds and are a participant in TRS' Tax-Deferred Annuity (TDA) Program, you must also withdraw your TDA funds.

TRS makes payments through EFT. EFT is required for loans and withdrawals, and other one-time payments.

TRS recommends that you set up your EFT account before you want to apply for a loan or withdrawal. It generally takes at least 21 days to establish an EFT account, so payment of a loan or withdrawal may be delayed if an EFT account is not established in advance.

For retirees, monthly benefit payments (i.e., retirement allowance and, if applicable, annuity payments under the TDA Program) are also paid electronically.

When you transfer your membership, you also transfer your tier status, service credit, and accumulations in the Qualified Pension Plan (QPP). In addition, Tax Deferred Annuity (TDA) Program participants must elect to withdraw, directly roll over, or directly transfer their TDA funds.

The following rules apply for transferring QPP accumulations:

• If you are a participant in the Age 55 Retirement Program—You may not transfer your Additional Member Contributions (AMCs) unless you are transferring to the Board of Education Retirement System (BERS); in this case, the employee portion of your AMCs may be transferred. If you are transferring to a system other than BERS, you may receive the employee portion of your AMCs as a withdrawal or directly roll over this portion. The entire balance of the employee portion of your AMCs is taxable.
• If you are a Tier III, IV, or VI member—You may not transfer your Annuity Savings Accumulation Fund (ASAF) balance because other retirement systems do not have an equivalent fund to support these monies. Therefore, you may receive your ASAF funds as a withdrawal or directly roll over the balance. The entire ASAF balance is taxable.

If you elect to directly roll over all or part of the taxable portion of your withdrawal to one or more eligible Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) or other successor programs, you must attach a completed QPP Direct Rollover Election Form (code RW29) with the TRS Membership Transfer Form (code RW39) . In all cases, the tax-free portion of your withdrawal will be paid directly to you.

Tier I and II members who do not meet the minimum accumulation may not be eligible to receive their full retirement benefit. In addition, they would not be eligible to elect a zero rate of contributions or to make an excess withdrawal.

TRS issues a separate 1099-R form for each of the following types of distributions:

• Taxable excess withdrawals, including those taken at retirement;
• Defaulted loans and taxable loans taken at retirement;
• Advance payments from the Qualified Pension Plan (QPP);
• Retirement allowance payments from the QPP;
• Annuity payments from the Tax-Deferred Annuity (TDA) Program;
• TDA and QPP Direct Withdrawals and Direct Rollovers;
• TDA Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs);
• Death benefit payments;
• Lump-sum disability payments;
• Withdrawals of funds upon separation from service; and
• Refunds of erroneous contributions.

Generally, TRS issues a separate 1099-INT form for any interest payments associated with a distribution listed above. However, the full amount of any Direct Rollover is reported on a 1099-R form, including any portion of the Direct Rollover that is attributable to interest.

Generally, TRS issues a separate 1099-INT form for any interest payments associated with a distribution listed above. However, the full amount of any Direct Rollover is reported on a 1099-R form, including any portion of the Direct Rollover that is attributable to interest.

When you retire, any outstanding QPP or TDA loan balance would be deducted from your funds in the corresponding program, reducing the amount available for your retirement. In addition, the balance would be considered a distribution, and any taxable portion of the balance would be subject to 20% withholding. TRS would take this withholding from any subsequent cash payment made to you from the corresponding program in the same tax year. This would be a loan at retirement, and if necessary, a QPP excess withdrawal to a Tier I or II member, or a TDA withdrawal. If the withholding due were greater than the subsequent cash payment, TRS would issue you a check in a nominal amount of $10 and would take the balance of the payment towards your withholding obligation.