There are considerable benefits to buying back credit for an absence. The easiest and most convenient way for active plan members to discover these benefits is to sign in to iAccess Web, the secure member website.
All the tools and personalized information you need can be found in your online Buyback Centre. Visit the Centre to understand how a purchase of credit can improve your future monthly pension and what your earliest possible date of retirement with an unreduced pension would be—with or without the purchase.
How can a buyback improve a pension?
This chart demonstrates the increase in an annual unreduced pension with a buyback of one, two and five years of credit.
| Buyback | Increase in annual pension, based on salary* of: | ||
| of credit | $50,000 | $70,000 | $90,000 |
| One year | $1,000 | $1,400 | $1,800 |
| Two years | $2,000 | $2,800 | $3,600 |
| Five years | $5,000 | $7,000 | $9,000 |
Example of cost and benefits
Sarah received permission from her school board to take a two-year leave of absence, ending Dec. 31, 2007. The cost to buy back the leave is $11,880, based on Sarah’s $60,000 salary.
Here’s the impact on Sarah’s future pension with and without the buyback:
- If Sarah buys back the credit, she qualifies to retire with an annual unreduced pension June 30, 2010.
- If she does not buy back the credit, she must work an additional year—until June 30, 2011—to qualify to retire with an annual unreduced pension.
The bottom line
An investment of $11,880 lets Sarah retire one year earlier and collect an extra year of pension.