I'm Ready to Retire - Late Career Retirement Planning

UC Retirement Contacts (FAQ and Troubleshooting)

To START the retirement process at UC...

To talk with a Retirement Counselor...

UC Retirement Counselors at the Retirement Customer Service Center are available to talk to by phone. Call 1-800-888-8267, ext 2 (for active employees planning for retirement). Contact a retirement counselor for retirement benefits counseling and document preparation, retirement estimates, service credit verifications, UCRP benefit calculations. 

Pre-Retirement planning seminars and webinar

Reading Materials
UC Retirement Handbook
"What To Do If You're Preparing for Retirement" overview
UC Retiree Health and Welfare Benefits Plan Costs
What To Do If You're Enrolling in Medicare
Should You Take Social Security at 62? and other tips

Financial Planning ResourcesUCB Financial Wellness Workshops 
Fidelity Workshops
Fidelity One-on-One Counseling
Fidelity Retirement Review for those "Retiring from UC" 

Online Tools
Retirement Estimator
My Social Security
Fidelity financial planning tools

Retirement Center Benefits
Retiree bMail
Free learning opportunities
Retiree parking
Discounts around campus
...and more!

Pre-retirement Planning Seminars

The Retirement Center coordinates a variety of pre-retirement and long-term care planning seminars to help you prepare for the important transition of retirement.  These seminars are free of charge and open to active faculty, academic appointees and staff of UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  Click here to find out more.

Preparing for Your Retirement Webinars

Presented by representatives from the Retirement Administration Service Center (RASC), this webinar for UCRP members considering retirement from UC within the next five years, covers topics such as understanding the UCRP pension benefits, retirement savings and retiree health coverage.

Read more

Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education 3-part Webinar Series

Reading Material


UC Retirement Handbook

You’ve had a long, successful career at UC and now you’re thinking of the next phase: retirement. The process is not difficult, but it’s important to plan ahead.

You can retire and receive UC benefits anytime after you become eligible—that is, when you have at least five years of UC Retirement Plan (UCRP) service credit and reach age 50 or 55, depending on your membership classification.

Retirement decisions are among the most important you’ll ever make. This comprehensive handbook will help you make the right choices for your future. Link to the UC Retirement Handbook. 

"What To Do If You're Preparing for Retirement" UC overview

One of the most important things you can do to prepare for retirement is to become familiar with the actual process for retiring from UC. Make sure to review this website that details the steps you'll take when it's time to make the leap! 

  • Decide your date
  • Know your benefits
  • Begin the application process
  • Review your finances
  • Start the election process
  • Stay involved

Learn more

UC Retiree Health and Welfare Benefits Plan Costs: Recent costs for medical, dental, vision, legal and AD&D benefits. 

To be eligible for retiree health and welfare benefits, you must:

  • Be a member of the UC Retirement Plan
  • Choose to receive a monthly retirement benefit
  • Be enrolled in or eligible to enroll in UC employee benefits on the day you retire
  • Continue coverage at the time you retire
  • Have a retirement date that is within 120 days of the date you end UC employment
  • Continue coverage until the date your retirement income begins


What To Do if You're Enrolling in Medicare:

When you turn 65, whether you’re still working or already retired, you’ll become eligible to enroll in Medicare, the federal program to provide older people and those with disabilities or permanent kidney failure with secure access to medical care. The rules are different for employees and retirees; so to be sure you enroll properly, avoid Medicare premium penalties and understand how Medicare works with your UC-sponsored medical plan, follow these steps. Learn more

Social Security 

Should you Take Social Security at 62?Fidelity reviews the question of what age to start collecting Social Security

Social Security tips for couples-  Fidelity reviews three strategies that may help married couples dramatically boost their lifetime benefits

Maximize Your Social Security Benefits- AARP provides expert answers to your most common Social Security questions

Social Security Strategies for Singles - AARP provides tips to help maximize monthly benefits for single people

When to Start Receiving Retirement Benefits- The Social Security Administration reviews the most common question they receive, "What is the best age to start receiving retirement benefits?

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Online Tools

UC Retirement At Your Service (UCRAYS) 

UCRAYS, which is replaced At Your Service Online (AYSO) for retirement related services, is a secure website that offers greater access to UC retirement information and more ways to view and manage retirement information in a user-friendly format. Most importantly, it includes enhanced security features, ensuring UC is following best practices for keeping your retirement information secure.

What can active faculty and staff members do in UCRAYS right now?
In addition to increased security, UCRAYS offers faculty and staff the ability to:
• Send and receive secure messages, with attachments if needed, to the RASC
• View service credit and UCRP/CAP contribution balances
• View and update beneficiary designations
• Estimate retirement income
Features to be added later in 2020 will include:
• Personal Retirement Profile and retirement election process
• Service credit purchase estimates (although still available in AYSO until then)
For more information and instructions on how to register and log in to UCRAYS visit here.


Click for social security websiteSocial Security

Keep track of your earnings and verify them every year; Get an estimate of your future benefits if you are still working; Get a letter with proof of your benefits if you currently receive them and more. Learn more

The Retirement Decision, recent Social Security Bulletin on the "Behavioral and Psychological Aspects of the Retirement Decision."

Fidelity Calculators and Planning Tools

Fidelity offers a variety of online tools for active staff and faculty and retirees to help manage your assets, plan for retirement, and more! Some tools include: Take Home Pay Calculator, Retirement Quick Check, Plan Limit Calculators, Budgeting & Debt Management, and Retirement Income Planner. Access Fidelity Calculators and online tools 

Online Personal Retirement Review (myucretirement.com)
Get a personal statement designed to show you the monthly retirement income; includes a modeler that lets you explore different assumptions, such as the amount you save in the UC 403(b) or 457(b) Plan, or the age at which you retire. https://myucretirement.com/

Your UC Retirement Income Might Just Surprise You - review several examples of retirement income from UCRP


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Financial Planning Resources

UC Berkeley Financial Planning Resources

Finanical Wellness Workshops: The Tang Center offers financial workshops, including "Working with a Financial Planner to Create Your Financial Plan and "Making the Most of Social Security." Learn more

Financial Fair:  The annual "Financial Fair for Personal Finance" is an opportunity for UC Berkeley faculty, staff, and retirees to attend workshops, learn about campus resources, and visit with campus financial vendors. Learn more

Contact: Wendy Nishikawa at (510) 642-7883, wnishikawa@berkeley.edu  

Fidelity Investments Financial Planning Classes and One-on-one Counseling

UC Financial Education Classes: UC offers a range of retirement planning and financial education classes to help you make the most of the UC Retirement Savings Program. View a list of classes. Learn more

Fidelity workshops on Social Security - This workshop will cover the basics and give you the tools to calculate your benefits, assessing your personal situation and claiming options, and considerations before you claim.  Click here to register

One-on-One Financial Planning Consultations: At UC, you can have a one-on-one with a Fidelity Workplace Planning & Guidance Consultant to review your plan for retirement savings and your other finances. It’s a service of the UC Retirement Savings Program, and it’s available to you at no additional cost. To arrange an appointment online: http://getguidance.fidelity.com/universityofcalifornia or call: 1-866-682-7787. Learn more: https://www.myucretirement.com/.

Video learning series on "Finance as We Age" - Developed by Terrance Odean, Rudd Family Foundation Professor of Finance, Haas School of Business University of California, Berkeley; includes 9 free training modules, ranging from 5 -15 minutes in length. Includes topics on advance directives, wills, trusts, how much you need to retire, how much you can spend in retirement, deferred income annuities, social security, medicare and long term care. 

Access on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLt461dTvJ65LYsibRbi_HTYli8TYVOhXY


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Retirement Center Perks

UC Berkeley retirees are eligible for a variety of services from the UCB Retirement Center, including:

  • Retiree bMail: the option to get or keep an @ berkeley.edu e-mail address
  • Free learning opportunities: workshops and lectures on a variety of topics
  • Retiree parking: Nights and weekend parking permits and "C" permits for use when attending Retirement Center events.
  • Retiree ID card: a variety of discounts and access to businesses and organizations on and near campus, including RSF, library, Botanical Garden and more
  • See a complete list of services and discounts here.