Members are often in the process of completing purchase service accounts (established prior to July 1, 2011). If you are considering retirement, all such accounts must be paid in full for the service to be recognized in calculating your retirement benefit. If you plan to retire, be sure to have a financial plan in place to complete payments on any outstanding purchase of service account before you retire. ATRS strongly encourages members to have all service purchase agreements fully paid by the time they submit their retirement application to prevent the service from being excluded due to lack of payment in full before the application deadline.

As an active (employed with an ATRS covered employer) member who did not have a service purchase plan in place by July 1, 2011, you may be eligible to purchase service in the system at actuarial cost thus increasing the total number of years used in the calculation of your annuity benefit. Certain limitations apply depending on the type of service purchased.

For more information, see Purchasing Service Credit.