Secure Your Future
TRS: Stronger than ever as a nonagenarian
Oct 4, 2007 12:06 PM
Over the summer, the Teachers’ Retirement System marked its 90th birthday. The TRS has provided retirement security for pedagogic employees of the Board of Education since Aug. 1, 1917 — even predating Social Security, which began in 1935.
Today, the TRS serves a total of 177,000 people including more than 69,000 retirees who all collect a monthly retirement check. In 1917, TRS had assets of $758,538.72; today (as of June) TRS assets totaled more than $55 billion.
In July and August, 1,675 TRS members retired. In addition to their pensions, these TRS members — like all TRS members — are also covered by Social Security. No matter what stage of your career you are at, it is a great comfort to know that if you stay until you retire, you will have a truly financially secure future.
Where will your money go?
It happened again. In September, we heard from a family with a TRS member seriously ill, and incapable of making decisions. The ill member was one of the thousands of members we have reported about who have no designation of beneficiary on file. Should this member die without recovering sufficiently to file a Designation of Beneficiary Form, three years’ salary, the benefit in this case, will go to the member’s estate. This will cause her loved ones many unnecessary hardships. Money needed for her family’s living expenses or her daughter’s college tuition will not be available until her estate is probated. This can take many months and may be a costly procedure.
The situation could even be worse: Many members have a beneficiary listed in their file who is no longer the intended beneficiary. Yet, this person would get the benefit. You should file new beneficiary designation forms to account for life changes, such as marriage, births, deaths or divorces.
The TRS is going to — once again — reach out to members in an effort to get them to focus on this matter. There will be information sent along with the third quarter Quarterly Account Statement.
Please, please, for your loved ones’ sake, take care of this matter now. Do not wait for TRS’ contact later this year, it may be too late. You may get a “Designation of QPP Beneficiary Form” (code EN6) and/or a “Designation of TDA Beneficiary Form” (code EN8) by calling the UFT at 1-212-598-6866/9536, TRS at 1-888-8NYCTRS or accessing the TRS’ Web site www.trs.nyc.ny.us.
Who are you?
The Sept. 6 issue of the New York Teacher had a story about a laptop computer theft that may have caused an identity theft problem for retired New York City employees. The state of Connecticut has recently had a theft of a computer tape that contained bank account and other sensitive financial data for nearly all Connecticut state agencies.
Identity theft can occur to anyone. It is the fastest-growing crime in America. As we have reported a number of times in the past, the federal government has enabled everyone to get a free copy of their credit report once a year from each of the major credit-monitoring agencies: Equifax, Experian and Trans-Union. The report includes your borrowing history, the types of credit you use, the length of time your accounts have been opened, whether you pay your bills in a timely manner and the amount of debt you have. The report does not include information about TRS loans.
It is advised that you check the reports for inaccurate personal information such as age and address, accounts incorrectly listed as open or delinquent, accounts that do not belong to you, accounts with balances that are greater than you believe is accurate and bankruptcies or other judgments that do not belong to you.
Your measure of creditworthiness is computed into your credit score. This score is used to determine, among other things, the amount you may borrow, and the interest rate you pay. The credit report is free from all three agencies, but if you want to know your credit score, you will have to pay a small fee.
Getting the report is easy. You can:
• Go to www.annualcreditreport.com. The report is generally available immediately.
• Dial 1-877-322-8228 to request a report. It takes about 15 days to arrive.
• Download the form and mail it. It also takes about 15 days for delivery.
No matter the stage of your career, you should have your debt under control and you should know if there has been any attempt to steal your financial identity.
A bit of advice: Get one report today, get a second report in four months, and get the third report four months later. Four months later start all over. Staggering your three requests once every four months gives you a frequent review of your credit history and gives you peace of mind.
Pension clinics
We heard you. The popular UFT pension clinics have been scheduled in Brooklyn and Staten Island for the fall. They will be in other boroughs and at the central office in the spring.
Pension Clinics provide a mini-course in pension and related retirement matters. They are part of the UFT’s continuum of services devoted to helping members prepare for a financially secure retirement. We urge all members to participate in these clinics two or three years before retirement.
To get the full benefits of the program, plan to attend an entire series. No registration is necessary and members may attend more than once.
“Secure your future” 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), www.trs.nyc.ny.us.
