Employee Contributions

Your Contributions

By law, you contribute 8.5% (Sheriff Police 9%) of your salary to the Cook County Pension Fund (CCPF). Your contributions are allocated to support your retirement annuity, your surviving spouse annuity (spouse annuity) and your Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA).

  • Participation in CCPF is not optional and the spousal contribution is required even if you are not married.
  • As a Cook County employee, you do not contribute into Social Security.
  • You cannot borrow from your contributions or use them as collateral for a loan. As long as your contributions are on deposit with CCPF, they cannot be garnished or seized by any creditor.
  • Contributions are tax deferred. You do not pay federal or Illinois income tax on the money contributed to CCPF.

What You Get by Contributing to CCPF

As a contributing member of CCPF, you may qualify for retirement benefits (see Tier 1 or Tier 2) depending on your age and length of service. CCPF also provides Disability Benefits and Death Benefits.

Breakdown of Your Contributions

  • For your retirement annuity                        6.5%  of salary (7% for Sheriff Police)
  • For surviving spouse annuity                     1.5%  of salary
  • For the COLA                                             0.5%  of salary
  • Total                                                           8.5%  of salary (9% for Sheriff Police)

Note that your salary for the purposes of CCPF is subject to certain state and federal limitations. For example, Tier 2 employees have their pensionable salary capped at the Social Security Wage Base limit ($168,600 for 2024). Contributions are not made to CCPF on any earnings that exceed the statutory limitations.

Additional Notes:

  1. Only those employees who have separated from employment may be eligible for a Refund of their contributions. The law does not provide any “emergency” release of contributions while you are still an employee of the County.
  2. You do not lose your contributions. Your contributions will be paid in the form of annuity or refund to yourself or your beneficiaries.
  3. All employees contribute for a spouse whether married or not. If you are not married when you retire spouse contributions are refunded. (See Partial Refunds)
  4. All contributions are maintained and administered by CCPF. Employee and spouse contributions accrue statutory interest of 3% while you are a contributor to CCPF.
  5. Annual Contribution Statements are mailed once every year. Typically these statements are mailed every May and show your accrued balances.

Stopping CCPF Contributions at 35 Years of Service

You have the option to stop contributing to CCPF once you reach 35 years of service. Please contact us to discuss with a counselor if you are considering stopping your contributions. If your salary has recently increased or is still increasing it may not be in your best interest to stop your contributions.