TRF Member Handbook: Membership
Eligibility and Enrollment
An employee of the Teachers' Retirement Fund who is a member of TRF before July 1, 2011, and becomes an employee of INPRS after June 30, 2011, remains a member of TRF after June 30, 2011. An employee who becomes an employee of INPRS after June 30, 2011, is a member of PERF. Faculty and staff at certain charter schools and public universities throughout Indiana and some legally qualified State employees and employers are eligible for optional enrollment.
Members of TRF include teachers in a public school corporation, certain TRF employees, and some employees in charter schools and public universities.
According to Indiana law, a substitute teacher may be a member of TRF upon completion of the following:
- Be certified by the Indiana State Board of Education;
- Have obtained at least an associates degree;
- Teach at least 120 days in a fiscal year (July 1 to June 30) or at least 60 days in each of two fiscal years.
Certification from the State Board of Education may include a teaching license, a substitute teaching permit, a temporary teaching license, or an emergency teaching license. However, if the member’s license expires, he or she is no longer eligible to be a TRF member until a new license is issued. No contributions are collected for substitute teachers who do not meet the criteria outlined above.
Indiana Administrative Code provides that teacher aides and higher education graduate assistants are not eligible for membership in the Fund.
Employers will enroll the new member online in the TRF plan by INPRS. Once this form is processed, the member receives a welcome mailing.
Suspension of Membership
By Member
Generally, a member who is no longer employed in a TRF- or PERF-covered position, does not plan to return to a TRF- or PERF-covered position, and is not eligible for a retirement pension benefit or a disability retirement benefit may suspend his or her membership and may withdraw the balance of the member’s Annuity Savings Account (ASA).
A member who is vested, even if age and service eligible to receive a benefit but has not yet applied for a benefit and is not currently employed in a covered position, and is transferring TRF creditable service to another governmental retirement plan may suspend membership in order to withdraw the member’s ASA and Rollover Savings Account (RSA) to purchase creditable service in the other governmental retirement plan. A member who is ineligible for normal retirement may withdraw the member’s ASA balance after a 30-day separation period following termination of employment in a covered position.
By TRF
The membership status of a member with less than 10 years of covered service is automatically suspended five years after leaving a TRF-covered position.
The membership status of a member with less than 10 years of covered service may be suspended two years after leaving a TRF-covered position if the value of the member’s Annuity Savings Account (ASA) is $1,000 or less. TRF, by law, can automatically issue reimbursements to inactive members with less than $1,000 in their ASA. Members can also call TRF at (888) 286-3544 to complete the paperwork process. We are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST.
