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Eligibility
Your beneficiary may be eligible to receive a post-retirement death benefit if you:
- Retire directly from service; or
- Are a vested member and your date of retirement is within one year of leaving public employment in New York State.
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The Benefit
The post-retirement death benefit is calculated at retirement. During your first year of retirement, the benefit is 50 percent of the ordinary death benefit payable at retirement; during your second year of retirement, the benefit is 25 percent. During your third year and thereafter, the benefit will be 10 percent of the ordinary death benefit that would have been payable at age 60, if any, or at retirement, whichever was earlier.
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Example:
Retirement at age 62 with earnings of $45,000
| $45,000 × 3 = | $135,000 |
| 8% reduction for working until age 62: | − 10,800 |
| Ordinary death benefit at retirement: | $124,200 |
1st year of retirement
(50 percent of ordinary death benefit): $62,100
2nd year of retirement
(25 percent of ordinary death benefit): $31,050
After 2nd year of retirement
(10 percent of benefit at age 60): $13,500
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Filing
Your family or employer should notify us of your death as soon as possible so we can send the appropriate forms to your beneficiary.