What retirement benefits (if any) do you receive as a teacher? We are not able to receive Social Security benefits, so I purposely chose to work in a district with a decent pension plan. I keep reading about how our pension fund is going to go broke or be completely nonexistent by the time I retire. This is horrifying to me, as I'm so afraid of being old and broke. My only other funding source is a very small Roth that I'm building on my own. Is your district doing any better?
The only other person I knew who said something like that had been working for the federal government.
Some states don't pay teachers SS. I'm in one of those states. I don't fully understand it enough to tell you why that is.
Assuming I make it 30 years in my district, I'll get 24% of my final pay through a county retirement fund (or if I leave before 30 years, I'll get 0.8% x years of service once I hit age 60), plus somewhere in the neighborhood of 50% of my final pay from the fund fund. I'm basically relying on those two funds plus Social Security, I don't have any other retirement accounts at the moment. (EDIT: I need 90 years combined age+service for the state fund, so to go directly from working to sitting on the front porch yelling at kids to get off my lawn with the casual assurance of a man getting a full retirement check, I'll need 32 years of service in-state)
My pension is non-existant. I worked in private schools. Sigh. Seemed fine when I was young. It's not so fine now.
I am retired for 3 years and am very happy with my pension. Almost half of what I made my final year of teaching. I waited 3 years to take SS so my benefit would be higher. I also have a 403B, IRA, and a Roth. Have no worries about my pension. I actually get a COLA every year after 5 years.
Teachers don't get social security here. We do pay into Medicare, though. I pay into the state teacher retirement plan. DH and I have been to the state retirement office to get personalized information about retiring at 27 years vs. retiring at age 55. We both plan on working to age 55, but when we ran the numbers we would be okay if we retired after 27 years. I'll have to see how I feel when the time comes. If we retire at 27 years, it would be a percentage of my top 5 highest salary years. If I wait until age 55, it changes to the top three years. It won't make much difference to me with base salary because I'm at the top of the salary scale now, and we aren't likely to get significant raises between my 27th year and age 55. My sick days are where I'll see the difference waiting until 55. I'll get paid for my sick days, and that adds to my last year's salary. I have 102.5 sick days now, and I have the potential for 91 more before age 55.
We have a strong pension in addition to social security. My state has one of the strongest pension systems in the country. After 28 years, you get the average of your three highest years each year until you die. If you want to leave your pension to your spouse should you precede them in death, you get a smaller percentage (I think somewhere between 60-65%), each year until you die, then your spouse continues to get that amount for life. There is also an option to T-DROP for 10 years once you hit 28 years, where they freeze your salary as far as what counts towards your pension, but assuming you work the next ten years, the amount taken from your checks goes into a separate retirement account which could accrue $500,000 in that time. So, assuming you teach 38 years, you retire with $500,000 plus average salary pension, plus SS. My state may not have a ton of perks for teachers, but the retirement ROCKS!!!
No SS in my state for teachers either. Right now, the best you can get is 87% of the average of your last 3 years of salary. That's after putting 35 years in. I definitely worry that it will no longer be around/be significantly less by the time I qualify. I'm only 8 years in.
This sounds very similar to my state. Truthfully, the stability of the pension system in my state is one of the top - if not the top - reason I returned after a single year in IL. My current state has a fully funded pension system. I pay a large percentage of my salary into it (14.5%), but that's how they keep it fully funded. I should have a pretty decent pension when I'm ready to retire. That said, I've also started an IRA by rolling over funds from four other pension systems (three of which were in IL), so hopefully that'll help me out as well.
State Supreme court in NJ already ruled once that the State cannot be compelled to make a payment into the pension system that would hurt the state budget significantly. I can't remember the exact ruling but that was the gist.
I find it interesting how different states choose to fund their pension systems differently. In my state, the state government contributes nothing. Our system is fully funded simply through employee and employer contributions (each are mandated to pay 14.5% of the teacher's salary), plus the investment returns that those contributions bring in.
Native Americans were promised their land until it was no longer their land. Being together is a promise made at the beginning of every marriage yet they often end in divorce. Promises are broken all the time. It's not possible to pay out any of the unfunded liabilities. That includes Social Security. They can't just print more money. Ask Venezuela. We can stick our heads in the sand or plan accordingly. You state pension is only as strong as the stocks supporting it. Is there another Maddof scandle out there? Is the pension heavily invested? You can't guarantee anything in life.
It is fascinating. In NJ, teachers and police/fire are actually handled differently. For police and fire, municipalities pay in directly and as a result, their pension is in much better shape. They seem scared they will merge both pensions together.
SIDE QUESTION - So this "roll over" business....does the money from your IL accounts literally just get put in your new account? Is it taxed or does the exact amount roll over? Does this happen in every state? I'm just wondering in case I ever move.
As long as you roll it over directly into the new IRA, you don't get taxed. The exact amount rolls over. If you have the funds sent to you first and then deposit them into the IRA yourself, you do get taxed. So, it's best to just let the pension system send the check directly to the IRA. I took mine out of the CTPF (and TRS and IMRF) and rolled it over into an account that wasn't based in any particular state (I opened an account with Vanguard). Since I assume you'd also be rolling over CTPF funds, it should work the same for you, no matter what IRA account you roll it over into. Regardless, I think it's the same for all pension systems, but I don't want to promise that.
That is an absolute shame. But I have to comment - the idea that "it will never happen to me" bugs me to no end. What makes you so damn special? I am assuming that the fireman were sure that all lives were accounted for before they watched. But it does sound like hands were tied on this one.
I also contribute a % of my paycheck. I really should put in more though.I think I'm at 3% but they recommend 5%. Maybe when I get my next raise I'll change it.
You want to get a Roth IRA. I am 25, work in a private school, make $55,000 (this will go up once I clear my credential), and have a Vanguard. All you have to do is contribute $5,500/12 or $458.33 per month, which is VERY affordable. (BTW, The maximum annual IRA contribution is $5,500.) Vanguard is awesome because they have very low fees, but they require you have $1,000 to start. Mine already has $16,000 and is steadily growing!
Well done! Your story is very inspirational and I hope to be in your shoes one day. I am just getting started, but I will be there eventually, haha! Do you have any recommendations in terms of stocks or other retirement options (private)?
I suggest you find a financial advisor. He or she can guide you in the direction in which you want to go. Money for my 403B account was added each time I got paid so I never missed the money. My pension was based on years taught, age, and tier level. The sooner you start the better off you will be.Good luck.
Good advice here. I admire all of you forward-thinking teachers. I thought my life situation would always continue as it was .... a foolish mistake. My husband passed away fairly young and suddenly I was responsible for much more than I had planned for. My kids were teens who fell apart. Anyway, I don't contribute to my savings anymore; I've been living off them for years
A gentle reminder that it would behoove us all to keep the political rhetoric out of the discussion. This is an interesting topic that affects many of us, but turning it into what one party does or doesn't believe or do tends to become inflammatory. Thanks in advance! As for me, the state of Ohio's public school teachers have our Social Security payments diverted to the State Teachers Retirement Services. I didn't start teaching in Ohio until a decade ago, so I'll have a little of both. REALLY need to get a Roth IRA open and into some decently balanced funds.
In this particular case, I don't think it's possible to discuss pensions situations which are directly related to government policies without mentioning the government. It's like trying to explain how to cook a roast without mentioning the temperature of the oven or how long to cook it. Point noted though and I appreciate your position.
Very few districts pay into SS in Texas because even if you are vested in SS, you don't get much if any of it back due to our annuities being considered a windfall. I've remarried so this no longer applies, but I would have only gotten about 75 dollars of my late husband's widow benefits. My mom worked in banking before teaching for over thirty years and she won't get a penny from SS.
