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If you could, would you want to receive part of your service retirement benefit in a lump-sum payment? How about if it meant a permanent reduction to your monthly payment? With Partial Lump Sum (PLS), you have that choice. PLS allows you, if eligible, to receive a lump-sum payment as part of your service retirement benefit. In exchange, your monthly benefit is permanently reduced. Although the monthly benefit is permanently reduced, your benefit is still guaranteed for life.
If you retire before January 1, 2011, and you are age 60 and three months or age 60 with 30 years or more of service credit in the month you retire, you can receive part of your retirement benefit as a lump-sum payment. The maximum lump-sum payment can be up to 15% of the present value of your unmodified retirement benefit. (The present value is the total amount that CalSTRS is expected to pay you over your lifetime.)
You can have your PLS paid to you or rolled over to another retirement plan. You are not permitted to do both. A rollover must be done through a trustee-to-trustee transfer to a qualified plan such as a 403(b) plan. If you choose the rollover option, the minimum PLS must be at least twice the amount of your new monthly retirement benefit after the permanent reduction from the PLS is calculated. Members may not use PLS to purchase previously refunded service credit.