Retired Teachers Chapter News
New, improved look for pension checks
Apr 16, 2007 3:53 PM
Don’t be surprised when you get your April pension check and the stub has a new look.
For a long time now the UFT has been looking for a way to provide more information more clearly on our retirement check stubs and Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) quarterly statements. The problem was that to create a new system was very costly.
But that problem has finally been solved. Thanks to the efforts of Comptroller Bill Thompson’s office, we will now be part of a payment processing system developed by the New York City Financial Information Services Agency (FISA) and administered by the New York City Office of Payroll Administration (OPA). These are the same agencies that process the in-service payroll.
Whether your benefits arrive via paper checks or through EFT, there is nothing you need to do to make this whole transition happen. Just be prepared for the changes at the end of the month and enjoy the improvements.
FISA and the OPA now handle retirement payments for the city’s four other retirement systems: the Board of Education Retirement System, the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, the Police Pension Fund and the Fire Department Pension Fund. So we come aboard after the successful transition of the four other retirement systems. Our transition to the new process, hopefully, will go forward without a hitch.
The new EFT statements covering the second quarter of 2007 will have an improved look, too, and reach those who get their check by EFT in July.
I won’t go into all the details of the extra information you will receive on your check stubs or EFT statements. The Benefits Report you received recently from the TRS has reported those details and there will be inserts with your April checks.
If you want to read the Benefits Report TRS mailed you but you have misplaced it, it is on the Web site. You can go to the TRS Web site directly at www.trs.nyc.ny.us and click on Benefits. Or go to www.uft.org, click Member Services, scroll to the bottom of the page to Money Matters and click on Pension and Retirement links to the TRS.
But I would like to note that there will be improvements for new retirees who will no longer have to wait for a finalized retirement check before federal tax, health insurance and union dues are deducted. Now those deductions will begin sooner.
Some time in the future, retirees who receive their checks through EFT should be able to view monthly deductions online.
If, for some reason, you fail to receive your retirement check by the 3rd of May, or your EFT deposit on the first business day of the month, call us here at UFT headquarters — 212-598-9536 — and we will help you get a replacement check. It will take about 15 days to get a replacement after you file the missing check information.
In earlier columns and articles, we have told you that the best way to avoid any check slip-ups is to switch to EFT. It’s the safe, convenient alternative to receiving checks in the mail and is especially helpful when you go on vacation.
The new process can activate your EFT within 15-45 days instead of the former 60-90 days after receipt of your correctly completed EFT Authorization form. It can also handle other requests such as bank-account changes in the same period of time.I hope you will be pleased with the improvements in check stubs and EFT statements that are on the way.
