Reciprocity (also referred to as inter-system) refers to the ability for members to “link” retirement benefits among California public agency employers. A member who has previously worked for another California public agency with which TCERA has a reciprocal agreement and who meets eligibility criteria can establish reciprocity between the retirement systems. Reciprocal membership is designed to reward career public employees who serve more than one California public agency during their working lifetimes.
Incoming Reciprocity - A member who established membership with the retirement system of another eligible California public agency and becomes a member of TCERA within 6 months of termination from the prior employer may be eligible for incoming reciprocity.
Outgoing Reciprocity - Outgoing reciprocity may be established when a member enters deferred status with TCERA and establishes membership with a reciprocal system within six months of termination of employment with the TCERA employer.
In order to maintain reciprocity and receive the resulting benefit of reciprocal membership, the member must retire from all reciprocal systems using the same effective date. Members are encouraged to plan ahead for reciprocal retirements to ensure that communication between the plans can be completed in time for retirement processing.
Please see the TCERA Plan Summary for additional details regarding reciprocity. If you are interested in finding out more about reciprocity, please contact the Retirement Office to speak with a Retirement Specialist.