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Faculty Retirement Checklist

If you are a faculty member who is ready to retire, use this retirement checklist to help prepare for this life change and navigate important decisions about your health and financial benefits.

Download this checklist in PDF format

Confirm Your Eligibility & Identify the Correct Timing for Your Retirement

Prior to making the decision to retire, confirm your eligibility to qualify as an official university retiree and identify the correct timing for your retirement. A faculty member must serve at Stanford for a period of time at least equal to the length of his or her most recent sabbatical prior to retirement.

  • Contact the University HR Service Team to request a retirement calculation by calling 650-736-2985. This calculation determines if you are eligible for retiree health care benefits and what portion of the coverage cost you share with the university. The University HR Service Team will complete your calculation and notify you of the outcome. The calculation takes three to six weeks.

  • Discuss retirement with your department chair or dean as appropriate.

  • Confirm your eligibility to participate in the Faculty Retirement Incentive Plan (FRIP). Contact Cristen Shinbashi in Faculty Affairs: cshinbashi@stanford.edu or 650-724-4864. Review information from this office about official university retiree status and privileges for faculty.

  • Eligibility for the Retiree Health Care Plan is based on whether or not you qualify as an official university retiree as defined for benefits purposes in Administrative Guide Memo 2.1.10. Review retiree health care benefits.

  • If you believe you may be recalled immediately after retiring, carefully consider the impact of the recall on your health benefits and retirement savings distribution payments. Review information about benefits if you are recalled. 

Action Steps Four Months Before Retirement

Now that you made the decision to retire, take these action steps at least four months before your retirement date.

  • Download the Faculty Retirement Planning Guide.
  • Attend a “Health Care Benefits in Retirement” workshop. If you are unable to attend or prefer to learn online, listen to the audio presentation.
  • Notify your department chair or dean.
    • Submit a Notice of Intent to Retire, available on the Faculty Affairs website in the Retirement section. Visit the Faculty Affairs website retirement section, click on FRIP and locate the Notice of Intent to Retire application form. Your notice should indicate whether or not you intend to participate in the Faculty Retirement Incentive Program (FRIP).
    • Your chair and/or dean will sign your notice and forward it to the Provost’s Office. The Provost’s Office will prepare an acknowledgement letter about your retirement and forward copies to your school and to Stanford Benefits.

Action Steps Two to Three Months Before Retirement

For faculty members who are eligible for the Faculty Retirement Incentive Program (FRIP), take these action steps two months before your retirement date.

  • Up to three months before retirement, if you are not being recalled, or are being recalled at less than 50% FTE, enroll in Medicare if you are age 65 or over or eligible for Social Security Disability benefits. You must enroll in Medicare Parts A & B. Medicare requires that you pay a premium for Part B in addition to the premium you pay for your Stanford retiree health plan. Your Stanford retiree medical coverage will not begin unless you are enrolled in Medicare. Contact Medicare at www.medicare.gov or call 800-633-4227. If you postpone your enrollment in Medicare Part B when you first became eligible, you will receive an employment verification form from Social Security. Please take this to Stanford Benefits to complete and return it to Social Security.

  • If you are being recalled at 50% FTE or greater, take the previous step once you know you will no longer be recalled, or, your FTE falls below 50%.

  • For faculty members who are eligible for the Faculty Retirement Incentive Program (FRIP), take these action steps two months before your retirement date.
    • The Provost’s staff will prepare a FRIP Agreement & Release. The FRIP documents will be sent to your home address. Review the agreement, sign it and return the signed agreement to the Provost’s Office. The Provost will sign the agreement and return a fully executed copy to you.
    • Following retirement, you are immediately recalled (rehired) to service at 50 percent FTE for one to two years. During this recall appointment you will receive payments equal to your full salary at retirement and continue on active employee medical coverage.
    • One month before this FRIP recall ends, continue with the next steps below. There are no further recalls after the initial FRIP recall period.
 

Action Steps One Month Before Retirement

As your retirement date approaches, take these action steps one month prior to your last day of work.

  • Select retiree health care coverage. Make your medical, dental and vision benefits elections. Call the University HR Service Team at 650-736-2985. The team will have your completed retiree calculation and a specialist can take your elections over the phone. By recording your health care elections in advance, your retiree medical benefits will be in place on the first day of the month following your last day of work. Your active benefits cover you until the end of the month in which you stop work.

  • If age 65 or over and enrolling in a Medicare Advantage Plan, complete the necessary documentation and return to Stanford Benefits by the 10th of the month before you want your benefits to start. For example, if you want benefits to start April 1, Stanford Benefits must have your completed form by March 10.

  • Apply for Social Security benefits if you choose to. To apply for benefits go to www.ssa.gov or call 800-772-1213.

  • Decide what to do with your retirement savings. Talk to your accountant or a financial counselor about savings in your Stanford Contributory Retirement Plan (SCRP) and/or Staff Retirement Annuity Plan (SRAP) plans. You can leave your retirement savings in their current account(s) or request a distribution. For more information, visit the Retirement Savings section of our website.

    • To request a SCRP distribution, contact your investment provider(s) directly: Fidelity at 888-793-8733 and/or TIAA at 800-842-2888.

    • To request a SRAP distribution, call the Stanford University Pension Center at 877-249-6648.

After Retirement

  • If you are over 65 or changed medical plans, look for your new medical plan ID card in the mail. Your new card should arrive in the mail three to four weeks after your retirement date. Set up crossover billing if you are in a retiree supplement plan.

  • About three weeks after you retire, look for a COBRA and retiree billing packet in the mail from Vita.

  • If you are interested in porting or converting your life insurance or Accidental Death and Dismemberment, Prudential will send you information within two weeks from the date your active coverage ends. If you decide to convert or port coverage, you must complete and submit an enrollment form to Prudential Life within 31 days of retiring. For more information on conversion/portability, call Prudential Life Insurance at 888-257-0412.