Secure Your Future
Salary hike in October will increase your lifetime pension
Jun 8, 2006 10:50 AM
Last October, we agreed to a new contract which will increase our salaries by 15 percent over a 52- month period. The last salary increase takes place beginning in October. Since we have a defined-benefit (DB) pension based on our final average salary (FAS), the salary increases we are receiving will increase our lifetime pensions. That’s good news.
But not all retirement-related news was good this year. The Citizens Budget Commission, an organization committed to influencing change in the finances of New York State and New York City governments, has added its voice to the call to convert all newly hired public employees to a defined-contribution (DC) plan. You will remember that a DC plan, unlike a DB plan, does not provide a guaranteed retirement benefit and places the risks of the investment markets not on experts hired by the retirement system but on the employees themselves.
Social Security is still on President Bush’s agenda. He is still — though not as publicly as last year — pushing for its privatization.
Even though the latest figures available show the number of retirement-eligible members decreasing and the number of members with fewer than 10 years of service increasing, many people, because of the unprofessional and disrespectful atmosphere pervading the school system, are retiring. They could have, if respected by the DOE, given more years of quality service but they say, “Why?”
Facing retirement
Our career members retire with the four pillars of retirement security:
- a guaranteed pension;
- Social Security at the Social Security retirement age;
- a supplemental retirement fund — the tax-deferred annuity; and
- a comprehensive health insurance and Welfare Fund program.
When a member is on the brink of retiring, here are some of the important decisions that must be made:
- taking maximum or an option;
- taking a lump-sum withdrawal of excess contributions (Tiers I and II), or in the form of a non-repayable loan;
- investing in the fixed program or one of the variable programs; and
- removing the TDA account from the Teachers’ Retirement System or continuing to invest with the TRS.
We hope you don’t make these decisions without a final pension consultation.
New loan disbursement procedure available
Later this spring, eligible members will have the option of receiving their Qualified Pension Plan and TDA loans via Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT). Members who already receive their paychecks through direct deposit may elect to have their loans forwarded to the account where the paycheck is deposited. EFT ensures that your account is credited on the payment date and safeguards against lost or stolen checks.
As an information security enhancement, members will no longer be able to place their loans on hold for pickup at TRS. Once the EFT option is available, members will have the choice of receiving their loans by mail or by EFT.
See the TRS’ Web site at www.trs.nyc.ny.us for additional details as they become available.
Summer pension services
During the vacation period, the UFT will have pension advisors available for telephone inquiries from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays at 1-212-598-6866/7. In-person pension consultations will be available for emergency retirements only at 52 Broadway. Regular in-person pension consultations will resume in the UFT borough offices in the fall.
TRS’ summer hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. TRS’ address is 55 Water Street, New York, NY 10041. The phone number is 1-888-8 NYCTRS (69-2877).
Summer pension clinics
If you are within two to three years of retirement, you should use some of your down time this summer to plan for the rest of your life.
See the highlighted box for information about dates, times and location. No registration is necessary.
We wish you a well-earned, peaceful and restful summer. For those of you retiring, please accept our thanks for all you have done to educate the children of the City of New York. Our best wishes for a healthy, happy, lengthy and financially secure retirement. We hope that you will use some of your well-earned spare time to become involved in our Retired Teachers’ Chapter.
For those of you who will be returning, we look forward to keeping you informed again this fall.
“On retirement” is compiled and written by Mel Aaronson, Sandra March and Mona Romain, teacher-members of the NYC Teachers’ Retirement Board. For further information on items discussed, call your UFT borough office or the TRS. BRONX: 1-718-379-6200; BROOKLYN: 1-718-852-4900; MANHATTAN: 1-212-598-6800; QUEENS: 1-718-275-4400; STATEN ISLAND: 1-718-605-1400; Teachers’ Retirement System: 1-888-8NYC-TRS (692-877).
