Special Election Details
House Bill (HB) 1040 establishes a special election opportunity starting on January 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025, for eligible state employees. Members that meet the eligibility criteria will have an opportunity to transfer from their current tier in the Main Defined Benefit (DB) Plan to the Defined Contribution (DC) tier available when they first enrolled with NDPERS.
The newly created DC 2025 Tier 3 is not one of the DC tiers available for transfer during this special election. DC 2025 Tier 3 only applies for new hires first enrolled on or after January 1, 2025.
Eligibility Criteria
- Actively employed with a state governmental unit
- First enrolled in the Main Plan before 1/1/2025
- Main does not include Public Safety, Judges, National Guard, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) or Highway Patrol
- Have no more than 5 years of service on 1/1/2025 (includes service credit purchases an dual service under N.D. Century Code 54-52)
Next steps
Members that meet the eligibility criteria received a mailing with comprehensive information such as an estimate of what amount would transfer from the DB to the DC Plan as well as a projection comparing their future retirement benefit under their existing Main DB tier and the equivalent existing DC tier.
- Members can choose to disregard the notice and will remain in their current Main DB tier.
- Members interested in learning more can attend one of the upcoming virtual events with NDPERS and Empower. The same information will be presented at each of these events. A recording will also be made available in mid-December.
Add your preferred one-hour event to your calendar.
Electing to Transfer
NDPERS encourages members to meet with their retirement plan advisor, attorney, tax consultant or personal accountant to understand if transferring is the right choice for them.
Transfer Incentive Information
Members that transfer may be eligible for a transfer incentive.
- The $9,999 incentive is not a cash incentive; instead, it is three installment payments paid into the Employer contribution “bucket” in the member’s DC plan account.
- The three installment payments of $3,333 in January 2026, January 2027 and January 2028 are paid as long as the employee remains employed with an eligible state agency.
- If the state employee transfers to a political subdivision or terminates employment before the first incentive installment is to be paid, they will not receive any of the incentive payment.
Submitting your Transfer form
Individuals who elect to transfer must complete Defined Contribution Retirement Plan Special Election SFN 62523. Completed forms must be submitted to NDPERS by fax, mail or as a scanned PDF. Digital signatures are not accepted by NDPERS.
Choose your preferred method to file (submit) your transfer form:
- Hand delivered and date stamped by the NDPERS office between Wednesday, January 1, 2025, and Monday, March 31, 2025, at 5 pm CT.
- Electronically received by the NDPERS info account at ndpers-info@nd.gov between Wednesday, January 1, 2025, and Monday, March 31, 2025, at 11:59 pm CT.
- Deposited into the NDPERS drop box at 1600 East Century Avenue in Bismarck, ND between Wednesday, January 1, 2025, and Monday, March 31, 2025.
- Postmarked by a delivery service between January 1, 2025, and Monday, March 31, 2025.
After NDPERS receives your election form and verifies your eligibility, you will receive a confirmation letter within 7-10 business days indicating that your election form has been processed by NDPERS. Additionally, you should expect additional communication from Empower welcoming you to the DC Plan.