Accessing Funds: Can You Borrow From Your Florida Retirement System (FRS) Plan?

The Florida Retirement System Investment Plan was created in 2002 to serve mobile employees, short-term hirees and employees who want a large degree of control over their retirement investments.The FRS Investment Plan accepts contributions from both employees and employers and is calculated on an employee's salary and membership status. The long-term financial benefits of the plan are partially determined by the performance of employee-selected investment funds. A participant can withdraw funds from his own FRS Investment Plan once his employment has been terminated.

Withdrawals

As an FRS participant, you can take periodic withdrawals from your account or choose a pre-determined payment schedule. If you withdraw funds before age 59 1/2, you may incur a 10-percent tax penalty for pre-mature distributions. All of your FRS Investment Plan withdrawals are taxable as income in the year they are taken.

Employment Termination

FRS Investment Plan funds cannot be accessed while you are still employed by an FRS-covered employer. Upon termination, you can select a payment plan or you can choose to receive all of your funds in one lump sum. FRS also allows you to transfer your funds to a Roth IRA.

Service Requirements

If you transfer your present-value FRS Pension Plan to an FRS Investment Plan and you enrolled in the plan before July 1, 2011, you must complete six years of service to gain ownership of the funds. If you enrolled on or after July 1, 2011, you must complete eight years of service. However, all employee contributions are immediately vested, and you are eligible to receive a refund of your employee contributions even if you terminate employment prior to meeting the service requirements. In doing so, you forfeit all unvested employer contributions and are officially declared a retiree.

Beneficiaries

The FRS Investment Plan allows you to name beneficiaries who are eligible to receive your retirement investment funds upon your death. You can select a spouse, family member, trust or an estate executor as the beneficiary of the investment plan. The recipient must pay all federal and state tax that is owed on the retirement funds.