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• LEOFF Plan 2 Member Handbook
• Highlights
• Am I a member of the plan?
• Who pays for my benefits?
• How is my service counted?
• What if I leave my LEOFF position?
• What if I’ve been a member of another retirement system?
• What is my service retirement benefit?
• What are my benefit options?
• How does early retirement affect my benefits?
• What will I receive if I become disabled?
• What benefits do my survivors receive?
• What if I return to work after I retire?
• Can my benefits increase after I retire?
• Taxation and assignment of benefits
• Why does DRS need my Social Security number?
• When should I start planning for retirement?
• Administrative information

What if I've been a member of another retirement system?

Dual membership

If you establish membership in more than one retirement system, you may qualify as a dual member, even if your membership in another system has been terminated.

You qualify for dual membership if:

• you are or have been a member of LEOFF Plan 2,
  
• you are or have been a member of PERS, PSERS, SERS, TRS, WSPRS, the Statewide City Employees’ Retirement System, or the city retirement system of Seattle, Spokane, or Tacoma, and
  
• you have not received a service or disability retirement benefit from any public retirement system in the state of Washington

Service credit for dual members

As a dual member, you may combine service credit from any of the retirement systems listed above to qualify for retirement. For example, suppose you are a 50-year-old LEOFF 2 member, and have 19 LEOFF service credit years. If you also have 11 service credit years in PERS 1, you have a total of 30 service credit years — enough to retire immediately with a reduced benefit from LEOFF and a full benefit from PERS.

When you combine service credit to achieve eligibility for retirement, but you are not old enough to retire from one of the systems:

• you may postpone that retirement benefit until a later date, or
  
• retire immediately with a reduced benefit. See How does early retirement affect my benefits?

The provisions of each plan determine the amount of your benefit from each plan and when payments begin.

Restorations for dual members

If you are a dual member and want to restore service credit in a system other than LEOFF, you must repay the amount withdrawn, plus interest, within two years of becoming a dual member or before you retire, whichever comes first.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, please write to DRS.

Include the following information:

• Your name, Social Security number, address and daytime phone number,
• the system(s) in which you want to restore service credit,
  
• the approximate dates of each withdrawal and the periods of employment each represents, and
  
• the name(s) of your employer(s)