Steady Contributions Can Build Retirement Security

As a new employee of the Department of Education, retirement is probably the last thing on your mind.

But you may not realize that your package of retirement benefits could easily become your largest fiscal asset down the line. A few easy steps now will protect your rights to these benefits when you’re ready to turn the light out in your classroom for the last time.

The first step is to join the appropriate retirement system.

New Appointees

If you are a newly appointed teacher you are automatically a member of the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) and are required to pay 3 percent of your salary into the pension plan through payroll deductions. These deductions are federally tax deductible. These deductions will stop after 10 years of credited service or membership in the retirement system.

The 3 percent required deduction for your pension should occur by the time you have received your 3rd or 4th regular paycheck. On your check stub you should see a 414H TRS code next to the amount that was deducted. After that deduction appears you will receive a kit of material from the TRS. You must fill out the enrollment application and beneficiary form and return them with the other information requested to the TRS. The materials you receive from TRS will include information regarding tax-deferred annuity (TDA).

If the 3 percent deductions do not occur, or if you do not receive your kit of materials after the deductions start, call the TRS at 1-888-8NYCTRS or your UFT Borough Office.

Delaying enrollment may also affect benefits for your beneficiaries. If you have any questions about your pension application, you should contact the UFT or the TRS.

Not Regularly Appointed

If you are not regularly appointed, you may join the Board of Education Retirement System. For an enrollment form, write to the BERS at 65 Court Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201, or call 1-718-935-5400 or your UFT borough office.

Although membership in the BERS is voluntary and requires a pre-tax contribution of 3 percent of your salary, you should join. By enrolling in the BERS, you will build eligibility toward retiring with a city pension and health plan and Welfare Fund benefits. (This is in addition to your Social Security.) If you become a regularly appointed teacher, you will be able to transfer your pension credit to the TRS. (See “It Pays to Transfer”) And while you are still working, you will get valuable disability protection and death benefit protection for your beneficiaries.

When you enroll in either retirement system you will get a booklet called “Summary Plan Description” (SPD) which summarizes your benefits and describes your responsibilities. Once you join, your required 3 percent contributions will continue until you have completed 10 years of credited or membership service. You do not pay federal income taxes on the money you contribute toward your pension until you start collecting a benefit.

UFT PENSION SERVICES

The UFT offers many pension services to members. They include:

Publications:

A regular column in the New York Teacher, the UFT’s newspaper to members.
A pension newsletter, PensioNews.
Pension handbooks.

Consultations:

Pension consultants in each borough office to answer your pension questions or give you an individual consultation. To make an appointment for an individual consultation call your UFT borough office.

Workshops:

Speakers for chapter meetings or faculty conferences.
Ready-Or-Not pre-retirement planning program.
Pension clinics — each school month (except September) — and July or August. Check for specific dates in the New York Teacher or PensioNews.
Timely boroughwide meetings on pension and retirement developments.