If you have established membership in more than one Washington state public service retirement system, as a result of a job change, you may qualify as a dual member, even if you terminated membership in the other system(s). A dual member is one who:
As a dual member, you may combine service credit from any of the above retirement systems to qualify for retirement.
When you combine service credit to achieve eligibility for retirement in one system but you are not old enough to retire from a second system:
Suppose you are a TRS Plan 3 member, age 55, with four TRS Plan 3 service credit years. In addition, you have six PERS Plan 1 service credit years. You have a total of 10 service credit years, enough to retire from TRS Plan 3 with a reduced benefit. Because you meet retirement eligibility requirements in TRS Plan 3, you may elect to retire immediately from PERS Plan 1 with an actuarially reduced benefit, or delay the PERS Plan 1 benefit until you qualify for an unreduced benefit at age 60. The provisions of each plan determine the amount of your benefit from each plan.
Dual members may have the option of restoring service credit in the other system(s). See “Restorations for Dual Members” below. If you retire under dual membership provisions, your benefit will be calculated using the highest base salary from either system. See “Calculating benefits for dual members”.
If you are a dual member and wish to restore service credit in a Plan 1 or Plan 2 dual member system other than TRS, you must repay the amount withdrawn, plus interest, within two years of becoming a dual member or before you retire, whichever comes first. To determine how much you owe in order to restore service credit, contact DRS.
We will need the following information:
Payment must be made by the deadline, or your service cannot be restored under these provisions. The provisions governing dual membership do not permit you to:
For a detailed explanation of dual membership contact DRS and request the brochure, What is Dual Membership and How Does it Affect Me? All member publications are accessible on this Web site.
If you miss the deadline for restoration of dual member service credit, you may still purchase service credit. The cost for purchase is based on the potential increase in your benefit payments. For more information, see the Plan 3 Recovery of Optional or Withdrawn Service Credit brochure.