When you apply for a service or disability retirement, you must select a benefit option. This option generally cannot be changed after you retire. (You are considered a retiree on the first of the month in which you retire.)
If you are married, the law requires that you provide the written consent of your spouse to the benefit option you choose. This consent must be in writing and must be witnessed by a notary. If consent is not provided, the law requires that an Option 3 benefit be paid with your spouse as beneficiary.
This option pays you a benefit for your lifetime. If you die before the total benefits you receive equal your contributions plus interest at the date of retirement, the balance will be paid in a lump sum to your designated beneficiary.
Under this option, you receive a reduced benefit. If your designated beneficiary survives you, the benefit amount remains the same and your beneficiary continues to receive it for his or her lifetime.
This option provides you with a reduced benefit, but the reduction is smaller than in Option 2. If your designated beneficiary survives you, 50 percent of your benefit is paid to your beneficiary for his or her lifetime.
This option provides you with a reduced benefit that is smaller than in Option 2, but larger than in Option 3. If your designated beneficiary survives you, 66.67 percent of your benefit is paid to your beneficiary for his or her lifetime.
On July 1 of every year following your first full year of retirement, your monthly benefit will be adjusted by the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U, Seattle), to a maximum of three percent per year.
Once you retire you may change your benefit option and beneficiary only under the following circumstances:
You may waive your defined benefit in Plan 3, unless your retirement is impacted by a legal order. Waiving your defined benefit is an irrevocable decision. You cannot repurchase service credit once it has been waived. Spousal consent is required to waive the defined benefit. To waive your benefit fill out a Plan 3 Defined Benefit Waiver.
Some retirement plans have provisions which allow members to transfer contributions and/or service credit earned elsewhere into their retirement plan. The Legislature created this waiver to allow you to give up your benefit in Washington state, so you can claim service and benefits in another plan.