One of the many benefits of membership in the Teachers’ Retirement System is that members can borrow against their invested retirement funds.

TRS members have the following sources for loans:

The maximum you can borrow through a combination of QPP and TDA loans is $50,000. You may borrow that amount only if you have sufficient money in the accounts to cover that figure.

Members pay their loans through regular, automatic deductions from a paycheck, which protects members from falling behind on payments. Retirees may have automatic TDA loan payments deducted from monthly pension checks or they may mail a check to TRS each month.

Some important things to know about these loans:

Loans are a private arrangement between the member and TRS. These loans do not appear on your credit reports.

But complications can arise if a member goes off payroll for any reason. In such cases, payments obviously cannot be deducted from a paycheck. Instead, a member must send a check each month to TRS.

As you know, borrowing money is a serious financial decision. Be sure to compare the terms of TRS loans to other loans to understand all the ramifications.

TRS has brochures about the available QPP loans for members in different pension tiers. A separate brochure on TDA loans is also available. Download these brochures or call TRS at 888-869-2877 to ask for them.

Service credit for retirement

One factor in determining your eligibility for a retirement allowance and the amount of your monthly benefit is your total service credit.

If you worked full time, you will receive credit for each full year of service. Full-time TRS members receive a maximum of one year of service credit in a given school year. You cannot earn more than one year’s credit in a given school year even if you work per session or during the summer school session.

If you worked part time before your appointment to work full time, you may receive service credit prorated for the number of hours or days you worked.

Please note: You may need to have worked a certain minimum number of hours or days to receive credit.

Members who worked for another New York City or New York State public employer before joining TRS may obtain credit for that prior service. Make sure TRS is aware of your prior or transferred service credit by filling out a Record of Prior Service and/or Transferred Service form, which you can download from the TRS website. You will also need to contact the retirement system or the other agency or school district for which you worked.

Please refer to TRS’ website for more information about service credit, the procedure for claiming your credit and any costs involved.