Early Career Considerations
Early career considerations
As a CalSTRS member, you participate in a hybrid retirement system consisting of traditional defined benefit (Defined Benefit Program), cash balance (Defined Benefit Supplement Program) and voluntary defined contribution (CalSTRS Pension2®) plans.
Your service retirement benefit under the Defined Benefit Program is based on your years of service credit, your age at retirement and your final compensation. The more service credit you have, the higher your monthly retirement benefit will be.
Name your one-time death benefit recipient
If you haven’t designated your one-time death benefit recipient yet, take a few minutes now to do so. This benefit may be payable in the event of your death. The amount of the benefit depends on whether you have disability and survivor benefits under Coverage A or B and if you should die before or after retirement.
Redeposit or Purchase Service Credit
Complete and submit your Redeposit or Purchase Service Credit form online using your myCalSTRS account for faster processing. Step-by-step guidance means you complete the form correctly.
You can also download a print copy of the Redeposit or Purchase of Permissive Service Credit form to complete, then send it to us or hand deliver it to a local CalSTRS office.
Electing an option
To provide a lifetime monthly benefit to someone when you die, you can elect an option at retirement (this is different from the one-time death benefit). An option allows you to distribute your retirement benefit over your life and the life of your option beneficiaries. If you did not make a preretirement election of an option, your option election is effective as of your retirement date.