(a)     In lieu of the amount and form of retirement income payable in the event of normal or early retirement as specified under section 20-129(h) above, a Member, upon written request to the Board of Trustees and subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees, may elect to receive a retirement income or benefit of equivalent actuarial value payable in accordance with one of the following options:

(1)     A retirement income of larger monthly amount, payable to the Member for his or her lifetime only.

(2)     A retirement income of a modified monthly amount, payable to the Member during the joint lifetime of the Member and a joint pensioner designated by the Member, and following the death of either of them, one hundred (100) percent, seventy-five (75) percent, sixty-six and two-thirds (66 2/3) percent, or fifty (50) percent of such monthly amounts payable to the survivor for the lifetime of the survivor.

(3)     A retiring Member may elect to receive a decreased retirement benefit during his lifetime and have such decreased retirement benefit (or a designated fraction thereof) continued after his death to and during the lifetime of a person other than his or her Spouse. The election under this subsection (3) shall be null and void if the designated contingent annuitant dies before the Member's retirement.

(4)     Such other amount and form of retirement payments or benefits as, in the opinion of the Board of Trustees, will best meet the circumstances of the retiring Member.

a.     The Member upon electing any option of this section will designate the joint pensioner or Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) to receive the benefit, if any, payable under this Plan in the event of his or her death, and will have the power to change such designation from time to time, but any such change shall be deemed a new election and will be subject to approval by the Board of Trustees. Such designation will name a joint pensioner or one or more primary Beneficiaries where applicable. If a Member has elected an option with a joint pensioner or Beneficiary and his or her retirement income benefits have commenced, the Member may thereafter change the designated joint pensioner or Beneficiary, but only if the Board of Trustees consents to such change and if the joint pensioner last previously designated by the Member is alive when the Member files with the Board of Trustees a request for such change.

b.     The consent of a Member's joint pensioner or Beneficiary to any such change shall not be required.

c.     The Board of Trustees may request such evidence of the good health of the joint pensioner that is being removed as it may require and the amount of the retirement income payable to the Member upon designation of a new joint pensioner shall be actuarially redetermined taking into account the age and sex of the former joint pensioner, the new joint pensioner, and the Member. Each such designation will be made in writing on a form prepared by the Board of Trustees and on completion will be filed with the Board of Trustees. In the event that no designated Beneficiary survives the Member, such benefits as are payable in the event of the death of the Member subsequent to his or her retirement shall be paid as provided in the definition of Beneficiary in section 20-127.

(b)     Retirement income payments shall be made under the option elected in accordance with the provisions of this subsection and shall be subject to the following limitations:

(1)     If a Member dies prior to his or her Normal Retirement Date or Early Retirement Date, whichever first occurs, no retirement benefit will be payable under the option to any person, but the benefits, if any, will be determined under section 20-129(d) of the Plan.

(2)     If the designated Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) or joint pensioner dies before the Member's retirement under the Plan, the option elected will be canceled automatically and a retirement income of the normal form and amount will be payable to the Member upon retirement as if the election had not been made, unless a new election is made in accordance with the provisions of this section or a new Beneficiary is designated by the Member prior to retirement and within ninety (90) days after the death of the Beneficiary.

(3)     If both the retired Member and the Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) designated by the Member die before the full payment has been effected under any option providing for payments for a period certain and life thereafter, made pursuant to the provisions of section 20-131(a) hereof, the Board of Trustees may, in its discretion, direct that the commuted value of the remaining payments be paid in a lump sum and in accordance with section 20-135(i) hereof.

(4)     If a Member continues service with the City beyond his or her Normal Retirement Date and dies prior to actual retirement and while an option made pursuant to the provisions of this section is in effect, monthly retirement income payments will be made, or a retirement benefit will be paid, under the option to a Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) designated by the Member in the amount or amounts computed as if the Member had retired under the option on the date on which death occurred.

(c)     No Member may make any change in his or her retirement option after the date of cashing or depositing the first retirement check.