Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 19-11.012 - Rollovers or Plan to Plan Transfers to or from the FRS Investment Plan

(1) An Investment Plan member may rollover assets from other qualified plans into the Investment Plan. These qualified assets can come from:

(a) A qualified Traditional IRA at another custodian;

(b) An eligible retirement plan (Code s. 401 defined contribution plan, Code s. 401 defined benefit plan, Code s. 457 plan, or Code s. 403(b) plan), or

(c) The Federal Employee's Thrift Savings Plan.

(2) A member may not rollover assets into the Investment Plan from the following:

(a) Roth IRAs;

(b) Payments spread out over long periods of time, for example, from an annuity. These would include payments made at least once a year and lasting for the lifetime or life expectancy of the member, or for the lifetime (or life expectancies) of the member and the member's beneficiary, or for a period of 10 years or more;

(c) Required Minimum Distributions required to be paid to a member who has reached age 72;

(d) Emergency withdrawals from a Code s. 457 plan; or

(e) Hardship withdrawals from a Code s. 401 or 403(b) plan.

(3) Before accepting a rollover to the Plan, the Investment Plan Administrator evaluating the rollover shall first obtain sufficient evidence from the member to support a reasonable conclusion that the rollover is valid under the Code.

(4) The Investment Plan Administrator shall accept that portion of a rollover in a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer which includes both taxable and non-taxable amounts. The amount of any rollover with both taxable and non-taxable amounts shall be accounted for separately by the retirement plan making the distribution rollover to the Investment Plan.

(5) The member must complete the rollover deposit within 60 days of receiving the assets, unless the member qualifies for a waiver of the 60-day time limit as provided by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It will be the responsibility of the member to submit documentation confirming the qualification for the 60-day waiver. Otherwise, the member may be subject to federal income tax and the early withdrawal penalty.

(6)

(a) The Investment Plan Administrator may accept rollovers from:

1. A current or former Investment Plan member. Such member shall use Form IPRO-1, as described in subsection (8), below.

2. Participants in the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP), after the conclusion of such DROP participation. Such member shall use Form IPDROP-AD-1, as described in subsection (8), below.

3. Former DROP members who had previously rolled over their DROP accumulation:

a. To the Investment Plan and subsequently rolled their DROP account balance out of the Investment Plan. Such member shall use Form IPDROP-RO-1, as described in subsection (8), below.

b. To another qualified retirement account and want to invest the DROP accumulation in the Investment Plan. Such member shall use Form IPDROP-RO-1, as described in subsection (8), below.

4. Members of the Teacher's Retirement System with eligible DROP proceeds after their conclusion in the DROP. Such member shall use Form IPDROP-AD-1, as described in subsection (8), below.

(b) All rollovers into the Investment Plan must be more than $1,000.00 or such amount that will cause the account balance to be greater than $1,000.00.

(c) The Investment Plan Administrator may not accept rollovers from:

1. The former spouse of an Investment Plan member who had an account in the Investment Plan, established by terms of a qualified domestic relations order and then removed all of the funds from the account.

2. The former beneficiary of an Investment Plan member who removed all of the funds from the account.

3. Members of the Pension Plan.

4. The spouse or beneficiary of a deceased Pension Plan member who had a DROP accumulation in the Pension Plan.

(7) Payment to the Investment Plan must be in the form of a check made payable to the "FRS Investment Plan - FBO (the member's name)."

(8)

(a) Instructions regarding check delivery and other information relating to the processing of rollovers, including all applicable forms, may be obtained by calling the MyFRS Financial Guidance Line, which is a toll free line: 1(866)446-9377, Option 4, or, for members who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired, TRS 711, or by accessing the website at www.MyFRS.com.

(b) Current members shall use Form IPRO-1, rev. 07-23, "Employee Rollover Deposit Instructions and Form," http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-16169, which is hereby adopted and incorporated by reference, to effect rollovers described in this rule.

(c) Current DROP members planning to roll over their DROP accumulation shall use Form IP-DROP-AD-1, "FRS Investment Plan DROP Accumulation Direct Rollover Form for Current DROP Members," rev. 07-23, http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-16170, which hereby is adopted and incorporated by reference, to effect rollovers described in this rule.

(d) Former DROP members shall use Form IP-DROP-RO-1, "DROP Direct Rollover Form for Former DROP Members," rev. 07-23, http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-16171, which hereby is adopted and incorporated by reference, to effect rollovers described in this rule.

(e) Current or former DROP members who roll money into the Investment Plan and provide a personal email address or cell phone number, has consented to electronic delivery of documents through the MyFRS.com website, including but not limited to prospectuses, quarterly account statements, account transaction confirmation statements, privacy notices, annual fee disclosure statement, and other documents. When one of these documents is available, an email notice will be sent to the email address or a text message to the cell phone number provided by the member notifying the member of the document's availability. The member will need to log in to the MyFRS.com website to view and print any of these documents. Receipt of documents through MyFRS.com will continue until the member calls the MyFRS Financial Guidance Line at 1(866)446-9377, Option 4 and revokes the member's consent.

(9) Rollovers to the Investment Plan shall be accounted for separately on the recordkeeping system of the Investment Plan Administrator.

(10) Member rollover deposits will be reported to the Internal Revenue Service.

(11) Once an active Investment Plan member rolls over monies into the Investment Plan, the member cannot receive a distribution of rolled over deposit, or the member's account balance, until the member has terminated and is no longer providing services to an FRS employer, in paid or unpaid arrangements, for three (3) full calendar months following the month of termination. A member who has reached the normal retirement date as provided in Section 121.021(29), F.S., and who has terminated employment from all FRS-covered employment for one calendar month may request a one-time distribution of up to 10 percent (10%) of the vested account balance.

(12) Monies from a DROP rollover are available for immediate distribution.

(13)

(a) An Investment Plan member electing to transfer to the Pension Plan and who has an excess balance remaining in the Investment Plan account after satisfying any required Pension Plan buy-in amounts, may elect to use all or part of that remaining balance to purchase service credit in the Pension Plan. The member will need to complete Form PRO-2, "Pre-tax Direct Rollover/Transfer Form," rev. 10-10, http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-01184, which hereby is adopted and incorporated by reference, to effect this purchase. This form is available in paper form and may be obtained by calling the toll-free MyFRS Financial Guidance Line at 1(866)446-9377, Option 4 (TRS 711), Monday through Friday, except holidays, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Eastern Time), except holidays.

(b) The member must call the Investment Plan Administrator and request that funds be transferred from the Investment Plan to the Pension Plan to effect the purchase of service. The member must confirm that an invoice has been received from the Division of Retirement. The amount to be transferred must be equal to or less than the invoiced amount. If the balance of the member's account is less than the invoice amount, the member may request the total account balance be transferred.

(c) The member must complete the form referenced in paragraph (a), above. The completed form is to be sent to the Investment Plan Administrator.

(d) The Investment Plan Administrator will request authorization to liquidate the requested amount from the SBA. The SBA shall provide a letter of direction to complete the member's request. Upon receipt of the letter, the Investment Plan Administrator will liquidate the funds from the member's account. Upon liquidation, the amount will be received by the Investment Plan Administrator from the Custodian in the form of a check payable to the "Florida Retirement System" and reference the member's name. Upon receipt of the check, the Investment Plan Administrator will send the check and the form by regular U.S. mail to the Division of Retirement as soon as administratively possible. A confirmation of the transaction and the date the check and form were mailed to the Division of Retirement will be sent to the member.

(e) It is the responsibility of the member to confirm receipt of the funds by the Division of Retirement.

Notes

Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 19-11.012

Rulemaking Authority 121.4501(8), (5)(e) FS. Law Implemented 121.4501(4)(g)5., (5)(e), (21), 121.591 FS.

New 7-12-12, Amended 12-16-12, 10-15-13, 1-28-14, Amended by Florida Register Volume 40, Number 151, August 5, 2014 effective 8/18/2014, Amended by Florida Register Volume 41, Number 241, December 15, 2015 effective 12/30/2015, Amended by Florida Register Volume 43, Number 060, March 28, 2017 effective 4/12/2017, Amended by Florida Register Volume 44, Number 020, January 30, 2018 effective 2/12/2018, Amended by Florida Register Volume 45, Number 024, February 5, 2019 effective 2/19/2019, Amended by Florida Register Volume 46, Number 058, March 24, 2020 effective 4/8/2020, Amended by Florida Register Volume 48, Number 081, April 26, 2022 effective 5/11/2022, Amended by Florida Register Volume 49, Number 133, July 11, 2023 effective 7/26/2023, Amended by Florida Register Volume 50, Number 070, April 9, 2024 effective 4/22/2024.

New 7-12-12, Amended 12-16-12, 10-15-13, 1-28-14, 8-18-14, 12-30-15, 4-12-17, 2-12-18, 2-19-19, 4-8-20, 5-11-22, 7-26-23, 4-22-24.