Steps to Retire – Road to Retirement

We often talk a lot about the steps you’ll take before you retire and the steps after you retire, but we haven’t ever actually talked about what the process of retiring actually looks like. There’s a couple of reasons for that, the main reason is because… well, it’s complicated! And we don’t have much to do with the process, as its handled mostly by SDCERs and RISK management. But, over the years we’ve gotten a lot of questions about it. So we’ve decided to put this article together. 

Note: This article will not go into detail about the differences between options A, B, and C. We do plan to write an article about this and it will be included in a future newsletter. If you have questions about it in the meantime, we recommend you talk with SDCERs 619-525-3600 or contact your employer.  

Step 1: Make a plan!  

We talk about this a lot, but just by having a retirement plan, you’ll be walking into retirement with way more peace of mind and a better expectation of things to come.  

But you can’t really make a plan if you don’t know what your finances will look like when you retire!  

If you are receiving a pension with retirement (which you should be, assuming you weren’t impacted by prop B), you’ll be able to get an estimate for your monthly pension benefit by clicking here:  https://www.sdcers.org/Resources/Retirement-Plan-Summaries/City-of-San-Diego.aspx  

Once on that site, find the label that best applies to you based on where you work and when you were hired.  

To find your pension benefit, click the “Pension benefit Formula,” drop down tab and break out the calculator! You’ll need to find your retirement factor, multiply it by your service credit and your final compensation. If you’re confused about any of these you can find more information in the “pension benefit” dropdown.   

Once you have your pension estimate, you’ll be able to plan around the amount you have in savings, any IRAs you might have, and Social Security to determine more or less how much money you’ll have per month. Then you’ve just got to keep working!  

Step 2: A Year Before Retirement… 

Note: General Members can retire at 55 with 20 years of service, or 62 with 10 years of service. Safety Members can retire at 50 with 20 years, and 55 with 10 

A year out, we recommend you check for retirement events. SDCERs often hosts orientation and the City puts on a Retiree help day every year (while the retiree help day is mostly for benefits, there will be people there you can talk to about the process).  

You can contact SDCERs directly by calling 619-525-3600 or just head to their website https://SDCERS.org to see if there’s anything coming up. 

This is around when you also might want to talk with your employer about your plan to retire. That way you can train someone to replace you or they won’t be left in the lurch if you up and vanish on them, of course this is entirely up to you, and it might be in your best interest to wait until your retirement is set in stone before going through with it!  

Note: Since retirement is a HUGE decision, make sure you’re ready to retire before you tell your employer or move on to the next step. Talk with your financial advisor, your friends/family, and SDCERs if you’re not sure if you’re ready.  

Step 3. Six Months before Retirement... 

Once you’re six months from retirement, go to http://SDCERs.org and log into their member portal. Once there, book a retirement counseling session. These are normally booked three months in advance!  

This is also when you can start contacting SDPEBA and RISK Management to ask about benefit options ahead of time. But, don’t worry you have plenty of time to do that, even after step 4, speaking of which… 

Step 4. Three Months before Retirement… 

Now is when you’ll finally have your retirement counseling session! You’ll come up with a retirement plan with your SDCERs counselor and they’ll give you a form to sign that’ll have your official retirement start date! You don’t have to sign it then and there, they should tell you your deadline (around 1 month before retirement). 

After that, contact RISK and SDPEBA! This is when we’ll need to get your benefits in order so you’ll be ready to go once you officially retire. Your retirement counselor will go over this with you. 

Step 5. One Month before Retiring… 

You’re a month away! That’s exciting. All you need to do is submit your application. If you were given any further instructions or decided to wait to make choices about your benefits, now is the time to lock those in! 

Step 6. They Day you Retire! 

Congratulations! You’re done! Now you can sit back and relax. If you want, you can join organizations like the Retired Employee Association (REA) or the RFPA (Retired Fire and Police Association) or any other local retiree organization. Other than that, enjoy your early bird specials, pickle ball, and whatever else you choose to do to fill your spare time!