Normal, early, and delayed retirement; vesting of right to a retirement benefit

(a) The normal retirement date of a member shall be the first day of the month coinciding with or next following the date he or she reaches the age of 65, except that the normal retirement date of a member who is age 64 or over on January 1, 1970, shall be January 1, 1971. A member shall retire on his or her normal retirement date except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this Code section. (b) The early retirement date of a member shall be the first day of the month coinciding with or next following the date he or she attains the age of 60. A member may elect to retire at his or her early retirement date and receive the retirement benefit provided by subsection (d) of Code Section 47-4-101. (c) The right to a retirement benefit under this chapter shall vest in a member who has ten or more years of creditable service if the member has not withdrawn the member’s contributions. Except as otherwise provided in Article 2 of Chapter 1 of this title, a member’s accumulated contributions shall be 100 percent vested and nonforfeitable at all times. A member shall be 100 percent vested in all benefits under the plan upon attainment of normal retirement age. Upon attaining the member’s normal retirement age or the member’s early retirement age, the member shall begin receiving the appropriate retirement benefit provided by Code Section 47-4-101. (Ga. L. 1969, p. 998, § 6; Ga. L. 1971, p. 917, § 1; Ga. L. 1973, p. 1197, §§ 2, 3; Ga. L. 2000, p. 131, § 1; Ga. L. 2009, p. 947, § 22/HB 202; Ga. L. 2010, p. 1207, § 50/SB 436.) The 2009 amendment, effective May 11, 2009, in subsection (e), throughout the subsection, substituted ‘‘the member’’ for ‘‘he’’ and substituted ‘‘the member’s’’ for ‘‘his’’, and added the second and third sentences. The 2010 amendment, effective July 1, 2010, inserted ‘‘or she’’ or ‘‘or her’’ in subsections (a) and (b); substituted ‘‘subsection (c)’’ for ‘‘subsections (b) through (e)’’ in the last sentence of subsection (a); deleted former subsections (b) and (c), which read: ‘‘(b) At the request of his local unit of administration, a member may remain actively employed beyond his normal retirement date on a year-to-year basis as shall be mutually agreed upon by the member and his local unit of administration. In such cases, the member shall retire on the first day of the month coinciding with or next following the end of the last agreed upon period of employment, which date shall be the delayed retirement date of the member. ‘‘(c) Any person who was a public school employee for a period of ten or more years at any time after July 1, 1945, and who on April 14, 1971, had attained age 60 or over shall be eligible for membership and may retire. The effective date of such individual’s retirement shall be the first day of the first month which occurs at least 30 days after receipt of his application for retirement by the board of trustees. Such effective date shall be the early retirement date of the member.’’; redesignated former subsections (d) and (e) as present subsections (b) and (c), respectively; and substituted ‘‘The early’’ for ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, the early’’ at the beginning of present subsection (b).