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.

In most cases, TRS issues payments two months after the online claim is filed AND the following are received: all required documentation and/or forms; the “Attestation and Notarization for Online Death Benefit Claim”; and any payment due.

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.

In order for TRS to promptly respond to your inquiry, you should have the following information available when you contact TRS, or include this information when you send us correspondence: your TRS membership number, a phone number at which you can be reached during business hours, copies of correspondence you are questioning, and documentation to support your claim. If you are visiting TRS, you should also bring a photo ID that includes a signature. Acceptable forms of identification include a driver's license, state-issued non-driver's license identification, passport, or school ID; unacceptable forms of identification include a credit card or store card with a photo, gym card, or a library card.

A member's beneficiary (or representative) must first submit a certified or original death certificate for the member; (s)he must also submit a Claimant's Statement (code DB17) . We will inform them of additional documentation and forms they may have to file.

For more information, please see the Guide to Death Benefits for Beneficiaries of Retired Members or the Guide to Death Benefits for Beneficiaries of Non-Retired Members.

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.