Retiree Information

The Retirement Application Process:

1. Eligibility for Retirement with The Teachers’ Retirement System of Alabama: 10 years or more at age 60 -- or at any age with 25 years of service.
2. Early preparation: Call the Employee Benefits Office for a discussion of your retirement plans. A representative will contact TRSA and have them send you a projection of your retirement income.
3. Faculty on academic year may retire June 1 of any year (or at the end of the spring term if they are not working in the summer) even though they will be paid through the academic year. Faculty who have been in calendar year positions during any period since October 1, 1980 may have their unused sick leave applied to service credit if they can show proof of time taken and the balance at the end of the calendar year appointment.
4. It is to calendar year members’ advantage to retire April 1 of any year. Why? Because the Teachers’ Retirement System considers 9 months as a full year’s work in the year of retirement. Therefore the TRSA year of July 1 through March 31 of the next year constitutes 9 months’ work. In effect you get credit for working the months of April, May and June.
5. Any sick leave that has not been used will transfer to TRSA service credit. Up to 15 months or 1,800 hours of sick leave will transfer as service time.
6. TRSA requires that the Application for Retirement be submitted between 60 and 90 days before retirement. That amount of time is necessary to process the paperwork and have everything in place by the date of retirement.
7. The application includes an attached Form for Direct Deposit of your retirement check. It will require your signature and the signature of a representative of your bank.
8. When TRSA processes your application they will send information on your Options for Retirement. There are 4 options. TRSA will calculate the income per month available with each option. A one-page form to select an option is included. At the top of the form is the W2-R Tax Form to be completed.
9. Note that options that include a lifetime income for your beneficiary in the event of your death do not allow you to change your beneficiary.
10. Retirement checks are sent by TRSA once a month at the end of the month.

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Health Insurance At Retirement:

1. At retirement, health insurance with the Public Education Employees Health Insurance Program – PEEHIP, is available or an individual may elect to continue with UAH insurance. Immediate enrollment with PEEHIP from the UAH contract provides the retiree with continuous coverage -- with no waiting periods for pre-existing conditions. Information for PEEHIP is sent by the Retirement System after they receive the application for retirement. Information on PEEHIP can be viewed on the Retirement System of Alabama’s web site at: rsa/state.al.us/
2. There is a state allocation toward the retiree’s PEEHIP contract that allows the premium to be less.
3. PEEHIP insurance carries the option of a hospital/medical contract with Blue Cross as administrator (currently with a drug card and $100 deductible for hospitalization) or contracts with several HMOs.
4. Coverage with PEEHIP will be effective the date of retirement. Since UAH premiums are taken at the end of the month for next month’s coverage, UAH premiums should be stopped the month before retirement.
5. A check for the first month’s premium will be sent to PEEHIP with the application for coverage.
6. The application for coverage has a section for certification of coverage with UAH. The Employee Benefits Office will complete this section.
7. You will be given the opportunity to enroll in four optional insurance packages with PEEHIP: dental, vision, hospital indemnity, or cancer coverage. The optional coverage will be available to you only at PEEHIP open enrollment, effective October 1, of each year. Material will be sent to you by PEEHIP announcing open enrollment each August or September.
8. At age 65 you will contact the Social Security Office and enroll in Medicare Part A (hospitalization – no premium) and Part B (medical – with premium). The phone number for the local Social Security Office at 5021 Bradford Drive is 837-70
9. The toll-free phone number for general information is 1-800-772-121
10. Your premium with PEEHIP or UAH will be lower to reflect the Medicare coverage.

Life Insurance At Retirement:

1. The UAH-sponsored life insurance that you have had as an employee converts to a retirement insurance amount of $6,000 for life insurance and $6,000 additional for accidental death. A letter will be mailed to you the month after you retire with details for the yearly payment of $44 ($12 per month.)
2. If you have had additional Group Universal Life insurance you can continue that coverage. You will be billed at home and will remit the amount directly to the insurance company.

Other Benefits:

1. Retirees maintain the benefits available to active employees such as tuition assistance for themselves and/or their dependents.
2. Retirees may continue use of the library and the Spragins Hall gymnasium.
3. Retirees continue to hold their UAH I.D. They are eligible for discounts at the bookstore or at campus events where employee discounts are applicable.
4. Employees planning retirement are encouraged to make appointments with a member of the Employee Benefits Office. There are always many questions to be answered. Each individual has unique situations and questions. Every conversation is strictly confidential. Nothing about an individual’s retirement process including possible dates of retirement are ever discussed. No one in the University community will hear about your retirement from the Employee Benefits Office.
5. Retirement is a special time to be announced by the retiree!
6. Early conversations may be helpful to think through the retirement process. Projections of retirement can be obtained and options discussed. Representatives from the TRSA Office in Montgomery come into Huntsville many times during the year for individual consultations. Their appointments are scheduled through the Huntsville Board of Education from October through April of each year. To schedule a consultation with a TRSA representative call (256) 532-4677

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UAH Termination Process:

1. Notify your department in writing at the appropriate time.
2. You will go through the employee checkout process. There is an Employee Separation Checklist Form that is begun in your department and signed by your department Chair or Supervisor. You will obtain signatures at each of the checkpoints. The Employee Benefits Office is the final place on the checklist.
3. If you are in a vacation-accruing position you will be paid for unused vacation (up to one year’s accrual) in lump sum in your final check from UAH.

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