TRSL Regular Plan members who later join the ORP have the option to transfer their accumulated employee contributions to their selected ORP carrier. When determining whether to transfer these contributions, an employee should consider if he is vested or non-vested in the TRSL Regular Plan, as this may impact his decision.
- Because ORP participants can never rejoin the TRSL Regular Plan, a non-vested member (less than five years of service credit) will never accrue enough service credit to earn a benefit from the Regular Plan.
- While a vested Regular Plan member (five or more years of service credit) can also not rejoin the Regular Plan, he will be eligible for a retirement benefit when he reaches normal retirement eligibility and severs all TRSL related employment. This benefit would be calculated using his service credit and final average compensation at the time he ends participation in TRSL's Regular Plan.
In each case, an employee needs to make the decision on whether to transfer employee contributions based on his individual retirement needs.