CalPERS 457 Deferred Compensation Plan

Withdrawing Money From Your Account

The CalPERS 457 Plan is a retirement savings plan. Generally, you cannot withdraw money from your plan account while you are still employed by your employer.

You may, however, make Emergency withdrawals for specific financial hardships prior to separation from employment. Money you withdraw through an emergency withdrawal is subject to income taxes.

Federal tax law severely limits emergency withdrawals to very specific emergency circumstances. Emergency withdrawals may be made only for the following reasons:
  • Hardship due to sudden and unexpected illness or accident of the participant or a dependent that is not covered by insurance or other financial resources
  • Loss of property due to casualty that is not covered by insurance or other financial resources
  • Other similar extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances and events not covered by insurance or other financial resources
Emergency withdrawals are not available for purposes such as home purchases or tuition expenses. Also, an emergency withdrawal request may be denied if you can relieve the hardship with other financial resources or by ceasing your contributions to the plan.

Other in-service withdrawal options include:
  • Alternate Provider Transfer-Transfer to another 457(b) Plan provider offered through your current employer.
  • In-Service Transfer to Purchase Service credit through CalPERS or another Pension Plan.
  • Rollover Source Withdrawal- You may withdraw a portion or all of the funds you have previously rolled into the CalPERS plan from a previous provider.
  • Small Account Withdrawal-You can withdraw your account balance if the balance is under $5000, no contributions have been made to the account during the two year period immediately preceding the withdrawal, and you have not taken a small account withdrawal previously.
You can request a "Hardship Withdrawal" prefilled form from the Account, Withdrawals, Request a Withdrawal section of this website. Or, you can request by calling 1-800-260-0659 and speaking with Customer Service. Customer Service is available to assist you Monday through Friday between 9:00 am to 8:00 pm Eastern time (excluding New York Stock Exchange holidays).