1. 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. The amount of the optional retirement allowance selected in paragraph "a", "c", "d", or "e", shall be the actuarial equivalent of the amount of the retirement allowance otherwise payable to the member as determined by the system in consultation with the system's actuary. 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. The member may select one of the following options:
a. 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 as provided in paragraph "b". A member may designate a different beneficiary at any time, except as limited by an order that has been accepted by the department as complying with the requirements of section 97B.39.
b. A member may elect a retirement allowance otherwise payable to the member upon retirement under the retirement system pursuant to this chapter, to include the applicable provisions of sections 97B.49A through 97B.49G, and a death benefit as provided in section 97B.52, subsection 3.
c. A member may elect an increased retirement allowance during the member's lifetime with no death benefit after the member's retirement date.
d. (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) In lieu of a benefit as calculated under subparagraph (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, as determined by this subparagraph. In addition, if the contingent annuitant dies prior to the death of the member, the member shall receive a retirement allowance beginning with the first month following the death of the contingent annuitant as if the member had selected the option provided by paragraph "b" at the time of the member's first retirement. The member cannot change the contingent annuitant after the member's retirement. If a contingent annuitant receives a decreased retirement allowance under this subparagraph following the death of the member, no death benefits, as might otherwise be provided by this chapter, will be payable upon the death of the contingent annuitant.
e. 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 at any time, except as limited by an order that has been accepted by the department as complying with the requirements of section 97B.39.
2. The election by a member of an option stated under this section 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, 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.
[C54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 97B.51]
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; 2000 Acts, ch 1077, §52, 78
Referred to in § 97B.25, 97B.48A, 97B.49E, 97B.49G, 97B.49H, 97B.50, 97B.50A, 97B.52
Subsection 1, paragraph d, subparagraph (2) applies on or after July 1, 2001; 2000 Acts, ch 1077, § 78
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