There have been some changes in the retirement age in the past years and, as a UNJSPF participant, you may wonder at which date you can retire. We hope that this article will provide you with useful guidance.

Two different key “ages” are often mentioned in the context of retirement: the ‘Normal Retirement Age for pension purposes (NRA)’ and the ‘Mandatory Age of Separation (MAS)’.  In some cases, a staff member’s NRA is different from their MAS. It is important that you understand the difference between these two age concepts, what they refer to, and how they will impact your future entitlements from the UNJSPF.

1. Your Normal Retirement Age (NRA) is the age at which you, as a Fund participant with at least 5 years of contributory service at the date of separation, would be entitled to a retirement benefit under Article 28 of the Fund’s Regulations and Rules. Your NRA is defined based on the date at which you last entered UNJSPF participation, which may or may not coincide with your actual date of employment. If these two dates do not coincide, then your NRA may be different from your MAS.

If you are not sure which is your NRA, please refer to the below:

• If you joined the UNJSPF before 01 January 1990, your NRA is 60 years;
• If you joined the UNJSPF between 01 January 1990 and 31 December 2013, your NRA is 62 years;
• If you joined the UNJSPF on or after 01 January 2014, your NRA is 65 years.

2. Your Mandatory Age of Separation (MAS) is the age at which you, as a staff member, must separate from the service of your organization. This is regulated by the Staff Regulations and Rules of your employing organization. The UNJSPF has no say in and no objection to your staying in active service after having reached your MAS or NRA. In some of the UNJSPF Member Organizations, the MAS for active staff members is currently 65 and, in other organizations, it is still age 62. For example, the UN introduced a change to the MAS effective January 2018 based on which staff who were active at that date can now work till MAS 65. However, note that for staff whose NRA was 62 when this change in MAS took place, their NRA is NOT affected by the change. Hence, if this is your case and you decide to continue working beyond your NRA 62, you will simply continue contributing to the UNJSPF, increasing your future pension entitlements from the Fund, but you would not be eligible to receive the pension while you continue to work.

If your MAS is different from your NRA we strongly encourage you to contact the Fund for advice regarding your benefit options prior to separating from service.

As for Early Retirement age, just like for your NRA, your Early Retirement Age for pension purposes is based on the date at which you last entered UNJSPF participation and the applicable UNJSPF Regulations and Rules at that time.

If you are not sure which is your early retirement age, please refer to the below:

• If you joined the UNJSPF before 01 January 2014, your early retirement age is 55 years;
• If you joined the UNJSPF on or after 01 January 2014, your early retirement age is 58 years.

For more information on ‘normal’ and ‘early’ retirement, please check our website where you can watch  Whiteboard video #4 explaining your benefit options when separating from service, the information booklet on ‘Separation’ as well as the comprehensive FAQs.