If you were hired on or after January 1, 2011 then you are in the Tier 2 Plan with the Cook County Pension Fund (CCPF).

For details of all Tier 2 annuity benefits, view the Tier 2 Annuity and Refund Handbook.

Qualifying for an Annuity

You are considered to be vested if you have 10 or more years of service credit. This may be 10 years as a County employee or based on a combination of years of service with another Reciprocal Fund.

For example: 6 years of County service plus 4 years of service with another Reciprocal Fund equals 10 years of total service.

Service Credit

You receive service credit while you are actively contributing to CCPF, either through payroll processing (paychecks) or while being approved for disability. Service credit is granted on a month-to-month basis. The Pension Code states that 15 days of service in a calendar month is required to receive a month of service credit.

Note: If you receive salary pay for less than 15 days in a calendar month (less than ½ a month of salary) you have not met the service requirement and you do not accrue service credit for this month.

Final Average Salary (FAS)

Your FAS is the salary used in the calculation of your annuity benefit. For Tier 2, your FAS is defined as the highest 8 consecutive years (96 months) of salary within the last 10 years of service.

Note: Your highest 8 years of salary can be with the County if the County was your last employer, or can be from a Reciprocal Fund if that other fund was your last employer, or your salary can be from both funds if the highest 96 consecutive months cross funds.

Benefit Accrual

The benefit accrual is 2.4% for every year of accrued service credit. For example: 10 years of service times 2.4% per year equals 24% of FAS. Refer to the Tier 2 Benefits Percentage Table to view various scenarios including age and years of service.

Normal Retirement Age:

Age 67 with 10 or more years of service.

Minimum Retirement Age:

Age 62, provided you have 10 or more years of service credit. However, if you start your annuity prior to age 67, you are subject to an age reduction, which is ½ of 1% for each month you start your pension below the age of 67.

For example: If you had 10 or more years of service and you were starting your pension at age 62, your pension would be reduced by 30% for being 5 years below the age of 67.

This table illustrates the difference between an employee starting their annuity benefit at age 62 vs. age 67, assuming an FAS of $3,000.00 per month.

Age	Years of Service	Age-Based Reduction	Years of Svc x 2.4% x Benefit %	FAS x %	Final Monthly Amount
67	25	None	25 x 2.4% x 100% = 60.00%	$3,000 x 60.00%	$1,800.00
62	20	30%	20 x 2.4% x   70% = 33.60%	$3,000 x 33.60%	$1,008.00
61	10+	Not payable below age 62  but you can wait to apply