Enrolling New Members
Here are the necessary forms for enrolling a new employee into the retirement system. These forms should be given to your new hires at the time you provide other materials to them, such as withholding tax forms, and other benefit information. Note: An enrollment form is also required when a member changes member classification (i.e. "Employee" moves into "Teacher" position) or group (i.e. Group I member takes Group II position).
Required Forms
Enrollment Form (Completed by Employer and Member)
Designation Of Death Beneficiary(ies) (Pre-Retirement)
OR Death Benefits Designation of a Trust as Beneficiary
Note: Information on monthly wage and contribution reported for active members is available here.
General information
Our members sometimes reach out to their human resources or personnel department with questions about NHRS. While member inquiries about specific situations are best referred directly to the retirement system, we do provide a number of general information resources that employers are encouraged to share with their employees.
'New NHRS Member' page
This page has information geared toward new members, including answers to frequently asked questions, a short video, and printable summaries of NHRS benefits. Note: If you provide an orientation program for new hires, please consider showing them the video, which runs about 15 minutes, or providing a link to it.
'Mid-career Member' page
This page has information geared toward members who have vested for a future benefit, but are not close to retirement. The page features answers to frequently asked questions, a short video, and links to other information of interest to mid-career members.
'Approaching Retirement' page
This page contains resources and answers to the many questions for members heading into their final steps towards retirement.
Printable benefit summaries
These printable summaries cover key terms, benefit provisions and other high-level aspects of NHRS membership. There are different summaries for members depending on when they started and/or when they became vested:
Member education sessions
During these general information programs, members of all ages and in various stages of their career will be provided with information about NHRS benefits, including an overview of NHRS as a defined benefit plan; service, early, disability, and vested deferred retirement; pre-retirement death benefits; benefit payment options; and other important information. Due to differences in the benefit structure, separate presentations are given for Group I (Employee and Teacher) and Group II (Police and Fire) members. Click here for a schedule of events.
Note: HR/personnel professionals are welcome to attend one of these session. For information on hosting a session click here.
Online presentations
NHRS has posted several brief presentations on our YouTube page:
Life of a Member Presentations
Every member has his or her own retirement story. Journey along with four NHRS members through their careers and retirement. These stories are meant to illustrate some of the interactions you will have with NHRS on your journey and help you better understand the retirement process.
Frequently asked Question (FAQs)
We have several FAQs on topics of interest to members, such as leaving service prior to retirement, disability retirement, working after retirement, and more. Several of these FAQs are also available as printable PDFs. Current member FAQs are:
My Account
Please make your employees aware of My Account, the retirement system’s secure online member portal. My Account provides members with access to information such as account summaries and balances, beneficiary designations, contact information, and Member Annual Statements. Members may also use the online estimator to calculate an estimate of future retirement benefits based on various scenarios, such as retirement date and survivorship options.
NHRS … Now You Know
NHRS has designed its “Now You Know” series to provide interested parties with important retirement system-related information in an easy to understand format. These documents give a well-rounded explanation on a variety of topics. Click here for an index.
Secure Message Center
Employers are often required to send personal information to NHRS regarding members or retirees. Protecting the confidentiality of this information is of the utmost importance to NHRS. As a reminder, NHRS uses Zix email encryption to send secure emails. If you don’t already use an email encryption service, you can sign up for a free Zix account here.
Personal finance, retirement, and other resources
NHRS provides a lifetime benefit to eligible members, however, the pension is only one component of a secure retirement. While the retirement system cannot provide individual financial planning advice, we encourage all of our members to take a proactive role in understanding their personal financial needs and preparing for their retirement. Click here for links to resources on retirement planning and overall financial literacy from governmental, non-profit, media, and public service entities.
Stay connected
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