FAQ's – Federated Employees

The Office of Retirement Services's business hours are Monday through Friday between 8 AM and 5 PM. The office is located at 1737 N. First Street, Suite 600, San Jose. We are about two miles north of City Hall at the corner of North First and Metro. If you are taking the light rail, exit at the Metro station. If you are driving, there is ample free parking behind the building. You can call the Department at (408) 794-1000 or if outside the 408 area code you can use (800) 732-6477. The email address is Retirement.Dept@sanjoseca.gov. The fax number is (408) 392-0771 or (408) 392-6732.

If you have access to the internet, then you have access to your Retirement account through MemberDirect. MemberDirect is a secure portal that was set up to allow Members of the Retirement fund to access their Retirement Account information 24 hours a day. Simply navigate to www.sjretirement.com, choose “Member Portal Login” from the menu and logon to MemberDirect. If you have any questions accessing MemberDirect, please contact the Office of Retirement Services at (408) 794 - 1000 or toll free (800) 732 - 6477.

As an Active Member:

You can access your Account Summary - such as employee contributions, and employment/benefit years of service, Personal Information, Nominated Beneficiaries, and Estimate a Benefit. You can also retrieve the forms, including Application for Retirement, General Forms, and Name/Address Update.

As a Retired/Recipient Member:
You can see details about your monthly benefit (including insurance deduction and tax withholding), Insurance Information, Tax Withholding, Direct Deposit, Year-to-Date, 1099-R, Demographic, and Nominated Beneficiaries. You can access the general forms, Online Open Enrollment (only available during November 1 - 30), Tax Forms, Insurance Forms, and Address/Name Update.

Federal tax law mandates an RMD from your retirement account be taken based upon the following:
If you turned 70 ½ on or before December 31, 2019, your RMD must be made no later than April 1 of the year following the termination from your retirement plan.
If you turned 70 ½ on or after January 1, 2020, your RMD must be made the later of:
April 1st of the year following the termination from your retirement plan OR
April 1st of the year following the calendar year in which you turn 72
If an RMD is not taken by that date, the IRS may impose an excise tax equal to 50 percent of the amount that should have been taken but was not.
For more information, visit the IRS website www.irs.gov or consult with your tax advisor.
NOTE: If you are actively working for the City of San Jose, or drawing a monthly retirement benefit, you are NOT required to take an RMD.

If for any reason you want to change your primary and/or secondary beneficiaries, please complete a beneficiary designation form. You can obtain a form by clicking on the "FORMS" icon of this website to download the beneficiary designation form, you can stop by the office to pick one up, or by calling us and request that we send you a beneficiary designation form. It is wise to review your beneficiary forms annually to be sure they are as you want them to be especially if there has been a death, divorce or remarriage.

The Member Statements are mailed in February of each year. It is important to check all of the information for correctness and notify The Office of Retirement Services of anything that is needs to be corrected.

The Office of Retirement Services can provide this information with your written consent for release of the information.

About three months prior to your 65th birthday, Retirement Services will mail you a packet that includes the necessary forms needed to enroll in a Medicare plan. The letter will instruct you to go to your local Social Security Administration (SSA) office to enroll in Medicare Part-A (hospitalization) and Part-B (outpatient).

NOTE: Active City of San José employees would enroll in Part-A only. You would not enroll in Part-B until you retire from full-time employment.

Medicare Part-A is the part that you must pay into Social Security for 10 years or 40 quarters to be eligible. If you have worked most of your career with the City of San José and did not pay into Social Security, you need to obtain a letter from Social Security stating your ineligibility. You may be able to meet the eligibility requirements for Part-A through the work history of your spouse, ex-spouse, or deceased spouse.

Everyone is eligible for Medicare Part-B. For 2009, the premium for Part-B starts at $96.40 (plus income-related premiums for high-income beneficiaries). The premium is either deducted from your monthly SSA pension check, or it can be paid each quarter directly to SSA by personal check or money order.

Once you have enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B, you will enroll in one of the Medicare plans available to retirees. For detail information about the different plans, go to the “INSURANCE BENEFITS” icon to download the Medicare Plan Comparison summary and rates.

Each Medicare plan has its own set of forms that need to be completed to comply with regulations set by the Centers of Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS). The Department will send the forms that are for the medical plan you are enrolled in. If you wish to change medical providers, you will need to contact the office to get the required forms.

You can send a letter to the Department stating the change, or you can obtain a form by clicking on the "FORMS" icon of this website to download the Automatic Deposit Form, you can stop by the office to pick one up, or by calling us and request that we send you an Automatic deposit Form. The form/letter must be signed and dated. Remember to attach a voided check to your request.

If you decide to move after you have retired, we need to get in writing the new address information. This can be done on a letter to the Office of Retirement Services or by completing the Change of Address form that can be found under the “FORMS” icon on this website. The form/letter must be signed and dated.

But before you submit your change of address request, you may want to consider how your move may affect your medical coverage, state taxes, and where you want your pension to be deposited.

It is important that you find out if your current medical provider will offer services in your new place of residency. Some providers, like Kaiser, are governed by service areas. If you move out of their service area, then you will need to change to a Blue Shield plan that may cost you a lot of money. To get detailed information on the different plans that are offered to retirees, click on the “INSURANCE BENEFITS” icon to download the comparison sheet. If you determine that you will need to change providers, the Medical, Dental, and Vision Enrollment form needs to be completed and submitted along with your change of address form, which can be found under the “FORMS” icon on this website. The form must be signed and dated.

If you moved out of California, you need to determine if you need to continue to pay California state taxes or terminate the deduction. This would be something you may want to ask your tax preparer. To make a change to your state taxes deduction, the California State Tax Withholding form needs to be completed and submitted along with your change of address form, which can be found under the “FORMS” icon on this website. The form must be signed and dated.

If moving is going to cause a change of your financial institution, you will need to provide us the new bank information. To make this change, send a letter to the Department stating the change, or click on the “FORMS” icon and download the Automatic Deposit form. The form/letter must be signed and dated. Remember to attach a voided check to your request

Retirement Services recommends that you notify us of the change of address at least a month in advance (if possible) to meet payroll deadlines and avoid mishaps like depositing your pension to a closed account, or if you need to change providers having lapse in coverage, etc…

Please remember that we cannot make any of the above change over the phone. All changes to our system need to be in writing that includes a signature and a date. If you cannot print any of the forms above, please call the Office of Retirement Services and we will gladly mail you the form(s).

The Retirement Fund provides subsidized medical and dental benefits if you meet the necessary eligibility requirements. The plan will pay 100% of the premium for dental, and 100% of the premium for the lowest cost medical plan. If you choose a plan other than the lowest cost plan, you are responsible for paying the difference.

You are eligible for dental benefits as a Federated retiree if you have at least 5 years of service (YOS) with the City of San José or receive allowance that is at least 37.5% of final compensation.
You are eligible for medical benefits as a Federated retiree if you have at least 15 YOS with the City of San José or receive allowance that is at least 37.5% of final compensation.

If you separate City employment and leave your contributions in the Fund (Defer Vest), you lose your dental benefit; however, you can enroll in medical benefits if you meet the eligibility requirements as stated above.

For detailed information on the plans available, click on the “INSURANCE BENEFITS” icon.

Retirees have the option of continuing the following voluntary insurances:

• Vision: VSP Choice and VSP Signature
• Life Insurance through Standard
• Personal Accident Insurance (AD&D) through CIGNA/LINA
• Long Term Care through Prudential
• Trustmark (Accident and Cancer/Critical Illness)
• Voluntary Insurances are those where the retiree pays 100% of the premium. For detailed information on the different insurances, click on the “VOLUNTARY INSURANCES” icon.

Effective January 1, 2011, your child dependent(s) can remain on your medical until the end of the month when s/he turns 26 years old.

Effective January 1, 2023, your adult child dependents can remain on your dental and vision coverage until the month when s/he turns 24 years old. Dependents enrolled in the DeltaCare HMO plan may remain covered until age 26. 

At the time of loss of coverage, the child will be offered Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) coverage, which is a federally mandated provision of continuation of medical, dental and vision care benefits. The maximum duration of this self-paid coverage is 36 months.

The City of San Jose offers a Long Term Care (LTC) plan through Prudential. For inside California, call (800) 732-0416, or outside California, call (800) 732-0416.

Your EAP coverage will end on the last day of the month in which your employment or benefits eligibility terminates. Your dependents' coverage will end on the last day of the month in which either you or your dependents are no longer eligible.

Continuation of coverage at the time of retirement may be available through COBRA. Contact Human Resources for COBRA coverage. If you carry the insurance through a Union, please contact your Union for more information.

The Office of Retirement Services receives a copy of the Notice of Separation at which time they send a Return of Contributions packet giving the options available. If you have less than 5 years of service, you can either request a Return of Contributions (ROC) or request to have the contributions rolled over to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). If you have more than 5 years, you can choose either of the above options, or you can choose to leave your contributions in the fund until you are eligible to retire and begin collecting a benefit. This is classified as a Deferred Vested retiree. At the beginning of the year in which you turn 55 years of age, the Office of Retirement Services will send an application for your completion. Your retirement date will be the date of your 55th birthday. Your personal contributions are yours, however the only way to collect any of the City’s contributions is to retire from City service and draw a monthly pension.

If you are terminating your employment with the City and going to work for a PERS agency, you will be given an option at the time of separation from the City to leave your money in the fund. That is the option that you will have to make if you want to claim reciprocity. You will then retire from both plans simultaneously. Both plans will look at your highest final average salary (FAS) throughout your civil service career and will calculate your benefit based on that salary, whether it is with the City or with PERS. You will then draw a pension from each plan.

If you worked for the City and withdrew your contributions at the time of separation and then returned to work for the City, you can buy back the previous years of service by establishing a Contract with the City. You have an option to pay it back in lump sum or by paying a specified amount each pay period for a maximum of 78 pay periods.

If you are at least 55 years of age with a minimum of 5 years of service with the City of San Jose, you are eligible to retire from the City of San Jose. You must submit your application prior to your last day on City payroll with a retirement date being the day after your date of separation. If there is a break in service you will retire as a deferred vested retiree and lose your dental benefits in retirement.

If you are not eligible to retire at the time of separation from the City but are vested with 5 years or more of service you can leave your contributions in the fund until you reach age 55. You would then submit an application for a deferred vested retirement prior to your 55th birthday. The date of your 55th birthday would be the effective date of retirement.

If you have less than 5 years of City service but you go to a reciprocal agency under the CalPERS pension plan, you can leave your contributions in the fund until you are 55 years of age and/or retire from both plan simultaneously. The rules to claim reciprocity are that you must begin your employment with the CalPERS agency within six months of terminating your employment with the City with no over-lapping or concurrent service.

No, a laid off employee has the same options as a terminated or resigned employee.

Dental if you have 5 years of service and retire directly from active employment. NOTE: Deferred vested retirees are NOT eligible for dental benefits

Health if you have 15 years of service or more. If you retire directly from active employment OR as a deferred vested retiree with 15 years of service or more you are eligible for health benefits.

If you have 5 or more years of service and retire directly from active employment with the City you are eligible for dental insurance.

If you retire directly from active employment or deferred vested with a minimum of 15 years of service, you are eligible for subsidized health insurance. The medical plans are the same for active employees and retirees. The pension plan pays 100% of the cost of the lowest cost plan. If you are in the lowest cost plan you pay no premium cost. If you are in a plan other than the lowest cost plan, you pay the difference in premium cost.

If you defer your retirement and retire at a later time as a deferred vested retiree with 15 years of service or more you are able to enroll in a medical plan at the time of retirement, however deferred vested retirees are NOT eligible for dental insurance.

Yes, you can roll your employee contributions plus interest into an IRA account, 401-k or other qualified tax deferred account. Withdrawals must be made in full. Your employment must have been terminated for 30 days or more to withdraw your contributions.

No, you can never withdraw employer contributions. The only way you can garner a benefit from them is by retiring from the system.