Updated October 22, 2026. Quick answer: Under Massachusetts General Laws chapter 32, section 10, a member of Group 1, 2 or 4 who leaves service after twenty or more years, or at fifty-five or later, may apply for a superannuation retirement allowance, and one with ten years who leaves the deductions in can apply from fifty-five. Those rules stop for members who entered service on or after April 2, 2012, who have their own ten year rule tied to the minimum retirement age; a member who resigns must leave the accumulated deductions in the system to use it.
What this covers
This is the part of the statute headed “Resignation, failure of reappointment, removal or discharge”. It decides what a member who leaves Massachusetts public service before a normal retirement can claim. For the options at retirement itself, see Massachusetts state retirement decisions and public pension retirement decisions.
Members who entered service before April 2, 2012
Each row is the statute’s own wording.
| Situation | What section 10 says |
|---|---|
| Twenty or more years, then leaving | “Any member classified in Group 1, Group 2 or Group 4 who after completing twenty or more years of creditable service, resigns or voluntarily terminates his service” |
| Leaving at fifty-five or later | “or any member who, after having attained age fifty-five, resigns, or fails of reappointment or is removed or discharged from his office or position without moral turpitude on his part” |
| Ten years and leaving the deductions in | “Any member classified in Group 1, Group 2 or Group 4, who has completed ten or more years of creditable service, and who resigns or voluntarily terminates his service and leaves his accumulated total deductions in the annuity savings fund of the system of which he is a member, shall have the right upon attaining age fifty-five, or at any time thereafter, to apply for a termination retirement allowance to become effective as provided for in subdivision (3) of this section.” |
| Where these rules stop | “This subdivision shall not apply to any member who entered service on or after April 2, 2012.” |
Members who entered service on or after April 2, 2012
Section 10, subdivision (2A) sets a separate rule.
| Question | What section 10, subdivision (2A) says |
|---|---|
| Who | “any member classified in Group 1, Group 2 or Group 4, who became a member on or after April 2, 2012, has completed 10 or more years of creditable service” |
| Including a resignation, if the deductions stay in | “who resigns or voluntarily terminates the member’s service, who leaves the member’s accumulated total deductions in the annuity savings fund of the system of which the member is a member” |
| When to apply | “shall have the right upon attaining the minimum retirement age for the member’s Group, or at any time thereafter, to apply for a superannuation retirement allowance”. Section 5(1)(a) sets that age at 55 for Group 1, 2 and 4, but at 60 for a Group 1 member who became a member on or after April 2, 2012. |
The reduction for leaving before fifty-five
For a Group 1 or Group 2 member whose allowance starts before fifty-five, the statute says the percent is the one for age fifty-five “with one tenth of one per cent subtracted for each year the age at last birthday preceding retirement is under age fifty-five”. As a computed illustration, a member who is fifty-two at retirement is three years under fifty-five, so the subtraction is 3 x 0.1% = 0.3%. The percent for age fifty-five itself is in a different section of the chapter, which this page does not read. A Group 4 member is treated differently: the same subdivision says that if the member “has not attained age forty-five on the date of his termination of service the normal yearly amount of such allowance shall be equal to that prescribed for a member classified in Group 1”, and that if the allowance becomes effective before the member has attained age forty-five the percent is the one for age forty-five, with one tenth of one per cent subtracted for each year under age forty-five.
Filing and start date
The allowance “shall become effective on the date of his termination of service if his written application therefor is filed with the board not more than sixty days after such date; otherwise his retirement allowance shall be deferred.” A deferred application then takes effect on a date “which shall be not less than fifteen days nor more than four months after the filing of such application but in no event later than the maximum age for his group”. A member who never files is not left without an allowance: the statute says it “shall nevertheless become effective upon his attainment of the maximum age for his group” unless the accumulated total deductions were returned before that age. “Maximum age” is a defined term in section 1 of the chapter, so confirm the figure for your group with the board.
Refund instead of an allowance
The statute treats the two as alternatives: “Any retirement allowance granted to a member in accordance with the provisions of sections one to twenty-eight inclusive, except as otherwise provided for in subdivision (3) of section twenty-five, shall be in lieu of the payment to him of his accumulated total deductions.” For that choice, see pension refund versus leaving it in. For state tax on what you receive, see whether Massachusetts taxes pensions.
Who loses the termination allowance
“Any member who is removed or discharged for violation of the laws, rules and regulations applicable to his office or position, or any member whose removal or discharge was brought about by collusion or conspiracy, shall not be entitled to the termination retirement allowance provided for in this subdivision.”
Edition
This page reads Massachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title IV, Chapter 32, Section 10 (Resignation, failure of reappointment, removal or discharge), as malegislature.gov served them on 2026-10-22. It is statute text, not the retirement board’s member guide: the board’s forms, its installment terms and its buyback interest rate are outside it, so confirm them with the board.
Common mistakes
- Applying the pre-2012 rule to a newer member. The statute says “This subdivision shall not apply to any member who entered service on or after April 2, 2012.”
- Missing the sixty day window. The allowance starts at termination only if the application is filed “not more than sixty days after such date”; otherwise it is deferred.
- Taking a refund and expecting an allowance later. The statute says an allowance is “in lieu of the payment to him of his accumulated total deductions”
Related: Massachusetts state retirement decisions, public pension retirement decisions, and pension refund versus leaving it in.
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Answer againSources
- Massachusetts General Laws, Part I, Title IV, Chapter 32, Section 10 (Resignation, failure of reappointment, removal or discharge): malegislature.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS, Topic no. 410, Pensions and annuities: www.irs.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS, Topic no. 558, Additional tax on early distributions: www.irs.gov
Read from the statute text linked above on October 22, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a pension system or a qualified professional is the right place to confirm anything consequential.