Stanford
Cardinal at Work

Staff Retirement Checklist

If you are a staff member who is ready to retire, use this retirement checklist to help prepare for this life change and navigate important decisions about your health and financial benefits.

1. Confirm Your Eligibility & Set a Retirement Date

2. Action Steps Three Months Before Retirement

  • Three months before retirement, contact our HR Service Center at 877-905-2985 to discuss timing with one of our Intent to Retire Specialists, and whether you will be Postponing your Stanford Retirement Benefits or electing coverage. If you or your spouse will be age 65 or over at retirement you will each need to be enrolled in Medicare Part A & B. If you declined your enrollment in Medicare Part B when you first became eligible as an employee, you will receive an employment verification form for Social Security from our HR Service Center. Once completed, return it to Social Security as soon as possible. We recommend you contact Social Security two to three months before your retiree benefits effective date to have enough time to enroll in Medicare. You must enroll in Medicare Parts A & B to enroll in one of our Stanford provided Medicare plans. Once enrolled in A & B you can contact our HR Service Center again to make the Medicare plan election in our enrollment system. Once the medical plan receives your eligibility they will enroll you in Medicare Part D for prescription coverage. Depending on your retiree calculation there may be a monthly premium to pay for access to use that medical plan. Medicare may also require that you pay a premium for Part B and D in addition to the premium you pay for your Stanford retiree health plan depending on your income. If you have questions please reach out to Social Security. Your Stanford retiree medical coverage will not begin or continue unless you are enrolled in Medicare and continue to pay for any required premiums. Contact Medicare at www.medicare.gov or call 800-633-4227 for additional information. 

3. Action Steps One Month Before Retirement

  • If you have not already selected retiree health care coverage, call the Stanford HR Service Center. The specialist can take any medical, dental or vision elections over the phone. By recording your health care elections in advance, your retiree medical benefits will be in place on the first day of the month following your last day of work. Your active benefits cover you until the end of the month in which you stop work.
  • If age 65 or over and enrolling in the Kaiser Medicare Advantage Plan, you will also need to complete a Medicare Advantage form by completing it using the Kaiser online link that the Intent To Retire Specialist can provide to you. The form must be submitted before the end of the month prior to coverage. So if your retiree benefits begin effective May 1st you must submit the form by April 30th. If electing Blue Shield or Alignment plans the specialist will send your Medicare info to the respective plan. Once Kaiser, Blue Shield or Alignment receives your respective information they will enroll you in Medicare Part D.
  • Apply for Social Security benefits if you choose to. To apply for benefits, visit www.ssa.gov or call 800-772-1213.
  • Decide what to do with your retirement savings. Talk to your accountant or a financial counselor about savings in your Stanford Contributory Retirement Plan (SCRP) and/or Staff Retirement Annuity Plan (SRAP) plans. You can leave your retirement savings in their current account(s) or request a distribution. For more information, visit the Retirement Savings section of our website.
    • To request a SRAP distribution, call the Stanford University Pension Center at 877-249-6648.
    • To request a SCRP distribution, contact your investment provider(s) directly: Fidelity at 888-793-8733 and/or TIAA at 800-842-2888.

4. After Retirement

  • If you are over 65 or have changed medical plans, look for your new medical plan ID card in the mail. Your new medical plan ID card should arrive in your email within 3 to 4 weeks of your retirement date. Set up crossover billing if you are in the Blue Shield plan.
  • About three weeks after you retire, you will receive a COBRA and retiree billing packet from The Vita Companies.
  • If you are interested in porting or converting your life insurance or Accidental Death and Dismemberment, Prudential will send you information within two weeks from the date your active coverage ends. If you decide to convert or port coverage, you must complete and submit an enrollment form to Prudential Life within 31 days of retiring. For more information on conversion/portability, call Prudential Life Insurance at 888-257-0412.