The Department of Employee Trust Funds must receive your application and payment to purchase forfeited service before you terminate from your WRS covered employment. Once your WRS employment is terminated, you are no longer eligible to buy forfeited service.

You must have three continuous years of WRS creditable service since returning to WRS covered employment. This means three complete and consecutive annual earnings periods with some WRS service credited in each period and without a termination of WRS-covered employment longer than 90 days.

You cannot buy more forfeited service than the number of years of WRS service you have earned since returning to WRS covered employment.

You can purchase part or all of your forfeited service and you may purchase forfeited service twice in each calendar year.

You can pay for your forfeited service with a personal payment (check or money order), with your WRS additional contributions (regular or tax-deferred) or with a plan-to-plan transfer from your non-WRS retirement plan. Plan-to-plan transfers can be accepted from qualified employer retirement plans under sections 401(a), 401(k), 403(b) and 457 of the Internal Revenue Code. You may pay no more than 90% of the service cost with a plan-to-plan transfer. You must pay the remaining 10% by check, money order or from your WRS additional account.

Service forfeited by a separation benefit paid to you before January 1, 2000 is purchased as "before-2000" forfeited service. Service forfeited by a separation benefit paid after 1999 is purchased as "after-1999" forfeited service, regardless of when the forfeited service was performed. The cost is the same for both "before-2000" and "after-1999" service, but in a formula retirement benefit calculation, the formula multiplier applied to "before-2000" service is higher than the factor applied to "after-1999" service.

The calculator estimates the cost of your forfeited service using the information you provide. Thus, the accuracy of the estimates depends on the accuracy of the data you enter.

The calculator shows an estimate of the increase to a formula annuity and a money purchase annuity, for the "For Annuitant´s Life Only" annuity option. If you select a different annuity option, the increase from your forfeited service purchase will be less than the estimate shown.

The estimated increase to a formula annuity assumes that no age reduction factor is applied to your formula benefit. If you retire before Normal Retirement Age (before you are eligible for an unreduced benefit), the increase from the forfeited service purchase may be less than the estimate shown. If your forfeited service purchase decreases your age reduction factor for early retirement, and/or increases the amount of military service for which you are eligible, the annuity increase may be greater than the estimated increase shown.

The increase to your money purchase annuity depends on your age and how much interest has accrued on your service payment at retirement. Your forfeited service purchase payment, plus interest, is matched by an employer contribution, plus interest in your account balance. This means that the value of your payment doubles in your money purchase retirement calculation.

If you purchase service and your WRS account is later split by divorce, (Qualified Domestic Relations Order or QDRO), we also split the forfeited service. The Alternate Payee (your ex-spouse) receives the same percentage of the forfeited service as part of your WRS creditable service. If you purchase forfeited service after the effective date of a QDRO, the purchased service is not split and remains in your account.

The estimated annuity increase shows the increase to the initial amount of your annuity. Any future annual dividends apply to your total annuity, including the portion based on your service purchase.

You can calculate the cost to buy your total forfeited service and then calculate the cost of buying a portion of your total forfeited service by selecting the "Partial Purchase" button at the bottom of the Results display. This allows you to determine the cost of a lesser amount of service, plus compare the benefit increase from a partial purchase to the benefit increase from purchasing all of your forfeited service.