STRS Ohio Retirement Mistakes to Avoid

Leaving Service Credit on the Table

The single most expensive mistake STRS Ohio members make is retiring with purchasable service credit they never bought. Every year of credit adds 2.2% of your Final Average Salary to your monthly pension — permanently. A member with a $75,000 FAS who skips buying back two years of restored or military credit loses $137.50 every month for the rest of their life.

Service credit purchases must be paid in full no later than three months after your retirement date or before your benefit is finalized, whichever comes first. You can purchase credit after retirement only if STRS Ohio received the certification forms and issued the cost statement before your retirement date. If you separated from Ohio teaching years ago and withdrew your contributions, you can restore that credit by repaying the withdrawn amount plus compound interest. Military service that interrupted your Ohio teaching career can be credited under federal USERRA provisions. Out-of-state public school teaching and approved leaves of absence are also purchasable.

Request a cost statement from STRS Ohio at least 12 months before your target date. You can fund the purchase through a pretax rollover from an IRA or other qualified retirement plan; contact STRS Ohio for the specific forms and rollover procedures.

Ignoring Spousal Consent Until the Last Week

Married members who elect a Single Life Annuity, an Annuity Certain, a PLOP, a Joint and Survivor option providing less than 50% to their spouse, or a non-spouse primary beneficiary must submit a notarized Spousal Consent Form at least 30 days before the retirement effective date. Miss this step and STRS Ohio defaults your election to a Plan II Joint and Survivor Annuity with 50% to the spouse and zero PLOP — regardless of what you intended.

Your spouse must sign the consent before an authorized notary public. Ohio also permits online notarization by a notary commissioned and authorized to perform online notarizations. Banks, UPS stores, and county courthouses offer in-person notary services, but scheduling takes time. Start the conversation with your spouse about payout options at least three months before your retirement date, not three days.

Violating the Two-Month Reemployment Waiting Period

Retired STRS Ohio members must wait two full calendar months after their retirement effective date before performing any work for an STRS-covered employer. Violating this rule triggers forfeiture of your monthly pension for every month you work during the waiting period — and the forfeiture is calculated on your full unreduced Single Life Annuity amount, even if you elected a reduced survivor plan or took a PLOP.

A July 1 retiree cannot do substitute teaching, coaching, or any paid work for an Ohio public school district until September 1. Even volunteering in a capacity that could be considered compensable service creates risk. If your district asks you to come back early for fall orientation, the answer is no until the waiting period ends.

Misreading Your Benefit Estimate

STRS Ohio's Online Personal Account generates retirement estimates showing projected monthly amounts under different Plan of Payment options. Members routinely fixate on the Single Life Annuity figure — the largest number on the page — without understanding that it provides zero continuing monthly benefit to anyone after their death.

The estimate shows actuarial reductions for Joint and Survivor options based on both your age and your beneficiary's age. A 10-year age gap between you and your spouse creates a larger reduction than a 2-year gap because the survivor benefit is expected to pay out longer. Before locking in a plan, run estimates with different beneficiary designations and PLOP amounts to see how each variable moves your monthly check.

Retiring Without Checking Your FAS Calculation

Your Final Average Salary is the average of your five highest years of Ohio public earnings. If you took a pay cut, switched to part-time, or had a year of unpaid leave in your final stretch, that lower-earning year could drag your FAS down and reduce every pension check for the rest of your life.

Members within five years of retirement should review their annual STRS Ohio statement to confirm which five years will form the FAS. If a lower-earning year would displace a higher one, working one additional year at full salary might push the low year out of the calculation entirely. The math is worth running before you set your effective date.

Filing Outside the 3-to-12-Month Window

STRS Ohio asks members to submit their Service Retirement Application at least three months, but no more than 12 months, before the effective date. Filing late does not prevent retirement, but it can delay your first payment. Your initial benefit checks are partial payments based on estimated data until your employer submits final payroll reports. Late filing compresses the processing window and extends the period of partial payments.

The application filing window opens 12 months before your target date. There is no advantage to waiting. File early, and use the intervening months to finalize service credit purchases, gather documents, and complete spousal consent.

Overlooking the PLOP's Lifetime Cost

Taking a Partial Lump-Sum Option Plan payment feels like free money — a five-figure check on top of your monthly pension. It is not free. A PLOP permanently reduces your monthly benefit using age-based actuarial factors. A DB member retiring at age 57 who takes a $25,000 PLOP loses $175.75 per month for life. A Combined Plan member retiring at age 60 loses $181.50 per month for the same $25,000.

Run the breakeven calculation before committing. Divide the PLOP amount by the monthly reduction to find how many months of reduced payments it takes to "repay" the lump sum through lower pension income. For most members, the breakeven point falls somewhere between 11 and 14 years. If you expect to live well past that horizon, the PLOP costs more than it delivers.

The STRS Ohio Retirement Guide walks through each of these decisions with worksheets for your specific numbers — service credit purchase math, PLOP breakeven analysis, and a payout comparison framework that accounts for spousal protection, tax treatment, and health care eligibility.

See more Ohio guides →