TRS allows members to choose how much of their benefit to receive: Members may take the maximum retirement allowance for which they’re eligible. Or, they may take a smaller amount and, if they die first, survivors receive a benefit. 

Daylight savings time has arrived, baseball has begun and green leaves are unfurling in gardens and parks around the city. With the arrival of spring, many of us begin to plan our summer vacations. Many others, however, are planning for the rest of their lives as they prepare to retire.

Every 20 years, New York State holds a referendum that asks voters if they want to hold a convention to revise or amend the state’s constitution. When the question appears on the ballot on Nov. 7, we are asking you to vote “no,” and here’s why.

Would you believe it? More than 26,000 Teachers’ Retirement System members — approximately 22 percent of our members — have not filed a form designating one or more beneficiaries for their Qualified Pension Plan accounts.

The Teachers’ Retirement System is approaching a historic milestone: It will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year.

Nearly half of all families in this nation have not saved for retirement.

The Social Security Administration announced a cost-of-living adjustment of 0.3 percent in 2017, an increase that will affect more than 65 million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients.

The third week in October is National Save for Retirement Week. Congress began this effort in 2006 to raise awareness about the importance of retirement savings.

The UFT and its allies — the American Federation of Teachers, the AFL-CIO, the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems and the National Education Association — are leading the fight to protect public pensions.

The legislative session that recently ended in Albany is a lesson in why we, at the UFT, remain on the lookout when it comes to our members and their pensions.