97B.51  Optional allowance.

Each member has the right prior to the member's retirement date to elect to have the member's retirement allowance payable under one of the options set forth in this section in lieu of the retirement allowance otherwise payable to the member upon retirement under the retirement system. The amount of the optional retirement allowance shall be the actuarial equivalent of the amount of the retirement allowance otherwise payable to the member. The member shall make an election by written request to the department and the election is subject to the approval of the department. If the member is married, election of an option under this section requires the written acknowledgment of the member's spouse.

1.  A member may elect to receive a decreased retirement allowance during the member's lifetime and have the decreased retirement allowance, or a designated fraction thereof, continued after the member's death to another person, called a contingent annuitant, during the lifetime of the contingent annuitant. The member cannot change the contingent annuitant after the member's retirement. In case of the election of a contingent annuitant, no death benefits, as might otherwise be provided by this chapter, will be payable upon the death of either the member or the contingent annuitant after the member's retirement.

2.  The election by a member of an option stated under this section or in sections 97B.49A through 97B.49G, shall be null and void if the member dies prior to the member's first month of entitlement.

3.  A member who had elected to take an option stated in this section or in sections 97B.49A through 97B.49G, as applicable, may, at any time prior to retirement, revoke such an election by written notice to the department. A member shall not change or revoke an election once the first retirement allowance is paid.

4.  A member may elect to receive an increased retirement allowance during the member's lifetime with no death benefit after the member's retirement date.

5.  At retirement, a member may designate that upon the member's death, a specified amount of money shall be paid to a named beneficiary, and the member's monthly retirement allowance shall be reduced by an actuarially determined amount to provide for the lump sum payment. The amount designated by the member must be in thousand dollar increments and shall be limited to the amount of the member's accumulated contributions. The amount designated shall not lower the monthly retirement allowance of the member by more than one- half the amount payable under section 97B.49A or 97B.49G, as applicable. A member may designate a different beneficiary if the original named beneficiary predeceases the member.

6.  A member may elect to receive a decreased retirement allowance during the member's lifetime with provision that in event of the member's death during the first one hundred twenty months of retirement, monthly payments of the member's decreased retirement allowance shall be made to the member's beneficiary until a combined total of one hundred twenty monthly payments have been made to the member and the member's beneficiary. When the member designates multiple beneficiaries, the present value of the remaining payments shall be paid in a lump sum to each beneficiary, either in equal shares to the beneficiaries, or if the member specifies otherwise in a written request, in the specified proportion. A member may designate a different beneficiary if the original named beneficiary predeceases the member.

Section History: Early form

  [C54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 97B.51]

Section History: Recent form

  84 Acts, ch 1285, § 13; 86 Acts, ch 1243, § 22; 92 Acts, ch 1201, §50; 95 Acts, ch 102, § 8; 96 Acts, ch 1187, § 42-44; 98 Acts, ch 1183, §47-49

Internal References

  Referred to in § 97B.25, 97B.48A, 97B.49E, 97B.49G, 97B.52


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