Home > For Campus Employees > Optional Retirement Program > Payment of Benefits > Payment Options

Payment Options

Normal Form Of Payment
The normal form of payment of retirement income from the ORP for married participants is a Joint and Survivor Annuity. This payment method provides lifetime income for the participant and their annuity partner (typically the spouse, but also a sibling, partner, friend, etc.) The normal form of payment of retirement income from the ORP for unmarried participants is a Single Life Annuity.  This payment method provides income for the participant’s lifetime.

Annuities are provided by insurance companies. ORP participants may draw annuity income from Plan Providers who offer annuities. They may also purchase annuities from any company, using a lump sum distribution from the ORP. In most cases, annuity purchases are irrevocable. Consequently, participants should carefully consider the role of annuity income in their overall financial planning.

Survivor benefits payable under an annuity reflect the type of annuity that a participant purchases. Some annuities ensure distribution of the initial sum used to establish the income, but most do not.

Other Payment Options

Systematic Withdrawals, sometimes called Automatic withdrawals, allow participants to specify a fixed amount of payment (usually monthly). Participants may change both the amount and frequency of the payments at any time. These payments continue until the sooner of: 1) the participant directs the Provider to stop making payments; or 2) the participant’s account balance is exhausted. Survivor benefits payable under Systematic Withdrawals are typically the remaining account balance.

Fixed Period Payments, sometimes called Installment Payments, are paid by insurance companies. The company agrees, by contract with the participant, to make certain payments to the participant for a fixed period of time. The Fixed Periods typically are usually from two to thirty years. However, the period cannot exceed the participant’s life expectancy. Survivor benefits under a Fixed Period arrangement can vary by Provider.  However, they are generally an actuarially-determined value of the un-paid installments; not simply the remaining balance.

Interest Only Payments may be elected by participants in order to draw only the investment income and/or interest from individual accounts. The Provider’s features of this payment method can vary widely, depending on the type of investment supporting the payments. Similiary, survivor benefits under Interest Only arrangements can vary by Provider.

Lump Sum Payments may be requested at any time for participants age 55 and older . For participants younger than age 55, lump sums are not payable until the attainment of age 55 except for funds accrued as of June 30, 2004. These funds, and related investment earnings to-date may be payable to participants younger than age 55 if the distribution is directly rolled over to either a subsequent employer’s retirement plan or a Rollover IRA.