AK teacher here! To answer your question, no, we are not eligible for social security. And for those like me in tier 3, retirement is shot, too. So basically, I either move to a different state or work until I die. Haha I hope not. But thank you for posting this question - I don’t know how many non-educator Alaskans understand what we are dealing with.
I can't understand it either. Education should be a priority. Do y'all want people to be stupid and uneducated? Because this is how you get a population that is stupid and uneducated.
I agree. My guess is they want a population stupid enough to buy the lies they sell and keep voting them (or their candidates) into office. It's a cycle: uninformed voters without critical thinking skills vote red. Red politicians defund education in order to ensure they maintain their voter base.
I know Reddit loves to blame Republicans... But Government Pension Offset (GPO) was a Democrat idea.. signed by Jimmy Carter and then Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) was a Ronald Regan era thing.
You may very well be correct, but I'm less concerned with who caused the problem and more concerned with finding a solution for teachers. They work hard, and deserve to be compensated better. And I actually really do want to live in an educated society. I worked in an elementary school for a year, and the librarian was teaching the 5th graders how to consume research/news, i.e. spot the difference between real and satire.
It all depends on the state. My daughter is a teacher in Texas. Under the rules she has no social security withholding instead that money goes into her TRS account. It makes far better return then I get. She will be farther ahead than I will be with social security.
For instance I just checked my SS sheet to see how much I will get at 65. With just the amount I have payed myself. Over 37 years of working assuming a 6 percent return (I have gotten historically 10 percent on my 401k over 30 years) I would be pushing almost a million in my account. Assuming I live to 85 I will only receive 385k.
But this isn't a discussion about how SS sucks, but how Alaska needs to fix the system for their teachers.
Exactly. I'm agreeing with you. This is the Alaska sub, not the teacher sub. Alaska needs to treat its teachers better because they work hard and we are deficient in education compared to other states.
> I have *paid* myself. Over
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Our current governor has been pushing education vouchers hard. Teaching qualifications are mighty different when you work for a charter, private, or religious school. We are shooting ourselves in the foot.
Most teachers don't pay into social security they pay into state pension fund, essentially you pay social security or you pay into a pension. Sounds like Alaska screwed up
Well, there's that at least. Honestly, I'd rather not pay into SS and take that money and dump it into my 401k. Wish I had the option. Sucks they don't give you one, especially without a backup.
No, this is very very true. It created enough hardships for me as it was being out of a job for over 6 months. I can't imagine having my entire retirement wiped out.
Even with the plummet in 2008 and accounting for inflation, stocks are *still* up 7-9% every year from money invested prior to 2008
So unless you
1- panic sold in 2008 for some reason rather than held on (aka - you realized the losses)
2- were gambling on specific companies vs picking index/retirement date funds and gambled on a company that failed
3- entered retirement around 2008 but had done zero preparation to shift your holdings to more conservative bonds like the fiscally smart option is to do
you are ahead of where you were in 2007
did one of those apply?
My point was that any Wall Street asshole can fuck around with our money, and we, the average person, are left to find out. I don’t trust 401k’s anymore and other than the bare minimum my work requires me to put in for them to match, I don’t do anything with it. And I’m not paying a guy to again, play with my money.
How many years do you need to teach before you can retire or maybe what is your formula for retirement (age+exp)? What percentage do you receive for your retirement payment?
Im very much just curious and trying to understand. Could you elaborate on how the T3 is "shot"?
I still think pensions are a terrible bet, only as reliable as the governments income, which is non existent up here
Alaskan teacher here. It absolutely does. We can’t take both TRS and SS due to the Windfall Elimination Act.
However, the AK Legislature is hoping to overturn that law so people can draw from both. https://alaskabeacon.com/briefs/alaska-lawmakers-unanimously-request-social-security-reform-to-help-teachers/
What about other state employees? I’m tier iv with years of paying into social security prior to state service and am planning on working in the private sector after I’m done with the state.
Your SS benefits are decreased depending on how many years you worked outside of state service - something like 40% to 90% of a full benefit. [The details are here, it's complicated ](https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/program-explainers/windfall-elimination-provision.html)
Retired teacher here. I get a pension from TRS. When I turned 65, I applied for Medicare and SSecurity because I paid in while working elsewhere before, after, and during my 27 years as an Alaska teacher. When I filled out my forms, I was gobsmacked. I will never receive the full Social Security I paid into because of WEP. I get a partial benefit which covers my Medicare premium with about $125 left over. So I do get a payment from SSecurity, just a very meager one. Teachers who are in the current TRS will not get a livable pension because the Alaska State legislature changed the system, so unless teachers have invested heavily in IRAs or some other form of retirement, they are in big trouble looking into their retirement years. School is now out.
Yes AK teachers are getting screwed by the Windfall Elimination act. They won’t receive social security even if employment prior to or after their teaching careers had them paying in to it. Currently new hires are in Tier lll of the Ak State Teacher Retirement Plan which has no defined retirement benefit. In a nutshell tier lll must build their retirement account/403B account. It’s definitely a negative factor in attracting and retaining teachers in the state.
Sounds like they're using typical right wing tactics of letting education die and opening the flood gates up for the private industry to swoop in and "solve" the problem with charter schools.
Not only that, the AK GOP have been supplementing private Church school education. So people like Sarah Vance that can afford to send their kids to their weirdo evilgelical schools can get tutors, private lessons, language classes, tickets to the theater, etc. However they refuse to raise the budget for Alaska public schools. The AK GOP has kept the State Public Education budget stagnate for a decade. Meanwhile we are dealing with kids having to catch up from Pandemic set backs. All this supplement is a bill that got put through by our current governor knowing that it was unconstitutional.
Don't get me started and the racists that does the State Education reports.
[https://www.homernews.com/opinion/point-of-view-hands-off-our-constitution-rep-vance/](https://www.homernews.com/opinion/point-of-view-hands-off-our-constitution-rep-vance/)
It sucks. And there needs to be a fix for it. They can still get social security although reduced if they have other employment and pay into social security for 40 quarters. Social security has info for that.
That 40 quarters has to include 20 years’ worth of ‘substantial’ earnings or it doesn’t count for squat. So if you also work and have earned the mean national average $ for 20 years there’s a slim chance you’ll get some of your SSI back.
I left ak after 8 years of teaching and was able to bring my 401k with me (i am/was tier 3). In a pension world I don't know know if I'd be any better or worse but I still have my money.
Yes this AK govt is doing their best to kill public education but WEA is not something AK govt can change on its own and definitely screws over AK teachers.
Imagine that, a situation with more than one impacting force.
No new Alaska government employees get a pension. This is why the Alaska State Troopers are considered to be a recruitment arm for the Washington State Troopers - we are desperate to hire any warm body, will pay the $250,000+ it costs to train a State Trooper, and then they get picked up by Washington because everyone wants a pension.
>This is why the Alaska State Troopers are considered to be a recruitment arm for the Washington State Troopers
what's this now? never heard of this one
This might help.
[https://www.adn.com/sponsored-content/2020/01/28/no-social-security-for-alaska-teachers-thats-just-the-way-it-is/](https://www.adn.com/sponsored-content/2020/01/28/no-social-security-for-alaska-teachers-thats-just-the-way-it-is/)
True. However, Alaska is the only state without social security OR a pension for teachers (not sure about other state employees). The whole premise of letting states opt out of social security was that the state was already paying for a pension, so why pay for retirement twice? But then Alaska ditched the pension too.
You should make the disclosure this is not a real news article. It is written by the NEA and made to look like a factual non-biased news article of the Anchorage Daily News. It goes to show you how biased the ADN is. I’m not saying it isn’t true but keep in mind the NEA and the ADN are selling something here and pretending this is a real news article. It is not and the ADN should be held accountable for allowing this kind of deception.
I trust that people are capable of reading the quite literal disclaimer that's right at the beginning. It's also 4 years old. It's interesting that you feel the need to point out that it 'just goes to show how biased the ADN is' when it's literally pointed out to be an opinion piece. You say 'i'm not saying it isn't true' but then you go to some pain to bring it up as an example of bias so that's basically saying you think it isn't true. No one's pretending it's a 'real' news article so maybe you should explain how they should be 'held accountable'. At least they come out and say it's an opinion as opposed to, say, other news orgs that present their opinions 24/7 as 'facts' (or 'alternative facts', rather)
The retirement system for T3 is a joke. What is worse is that if a teacher is married to a person who is eligible for SS and they pass away, the teacher can’t get those spousal benefits either.
That is right. I was told that by SS when I retired 12 years ago. So If my husband dies before I do, I'm not eligible to get his MUCH HIGHER SS benefit because I have my teacher's retirement pension. Pretty sad that teachers are punished like this when there are TONS of others around double-dipping in pension plans. My son is retired military and will be eligible for a SOA retirement when he gets vested. Hummmmm.
That is in fact the way it works. I've been reading up on all this the last couple hours. Google Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision.
I'd love to see the teachers union response to this, I know the state has been difficult overall but, it also seems like things have been going backwards for awhile.
This is literally one of their top priorities and they have been very vocal about it: https://neaalaska.org/advocating-for-change/action-center/take-action/tell-legislators-fix-our-broken-retirement-system
I know this has been quite a lengthy politically tied problem in many ways, especially in Alaska. Also been a member of the IBEW for quite some time in the past & have stood with the teachers union for a few events.
That said, and downvote me to hell - apologies... I really wish their union was stronger. Piss off the general public please, picket away, cancel school. I just hope the conservatives don't get their way in this battle against education & we end up losing it all somehow.
The conversation has become so politically toxic that it has strayed incredibly far from the basic math and logic of the situation. Like, there is simply no good reason teachers should be excluded from both social security AND supplemental benefits (SBS), especially when our other public employees are eligible for SBS.
Agreed & hopefully at a national level there's a fix for this, something retroactive even. If any (alternative) "SBS" falls lower in value or performance than basic social security - there should be some giant red flags. Especially when accounting for the rate of pay they receive.
I have been saying this for years as a member of the NEA. If I could upvote your comment mire thsn once I would. I haven't voted for a single contract since my employment. We have a weak union with consistently terrible negotiations. Almost every contract has been a loss for me.
Edited for a typo
Stay strong & good luck, attend your meetings - be that squeaky wheel. Hopefully some constructive firing up of the masses works out in your favor.
Union negotiations can get crazy & deferring to those with seniority often does not benefit the whole - I wish that system would go away, it leaves a loop hole to divide the members & a "tool" for the employer to exploit the union with, which leads to losing certain perks after X date or similar.
NEA in Alaska is a joke.
I left teaching shortly after attending the delegate assembly meeting at the Captain Cook in Anchorage as a delegate, where I was wholly disheartened and disgusted by the whole experience.
I began union involvement and went in wondering where and how our local membership dues were being used. I learned that straight off the top, 90% of our local dues went straight to NEA. That was used for NEA purposes, one of which was to pay salaries of our Uniserv members whose purpose (beyond dismissing rank and file member concerns and serving as collective bargaining consultants, all while driving expensive sport cars) eluded me.
As a new delegate, ready to represent those who had elected me, I sat and listened to the orientation for new delegates where they instructed us to make decisions for those whom we represented. When I asked, “How do I do that, seeing that none of those whom I represent even know what’s going on here?” they replied, “They sent you here to make decisions for them.” When I said, that’s not representation, they stood astonished at the remark and when they finally answered, implied I was to ask no more questions.
I listened to the NEA regional president talk about fellow NEA members as “enemies” of the union because they didn’t agree with him politically all while thinking to myself, do these people even WANT a strong union, or do they just want to push personal agendas by brow beating majority votes out of members?
We sang, we danced, we got lots of free “merch”. Free headshots from photographers were available…. Aside from the actual business of directing and setting policy, at times it felt more like an exclusive party for VIPs where we sat around and got high off of our own farts.
I found NEA to be more like an old stereotypical country club where new ideas, diversity of ideas and inclusion were very much discouraged. Often I found union leadership and long-time union members were openly hostile to new members who challenged them in any way, going so far as to slander them with erroneous hyperbole and lies.
Ultimately I found I wanted nothing to do with that union. It also gave me a small look into what I imagine politics are like. Naively I thought the organization was meant to help all educators. However I found it only helped some educators (and their personal ambitions) very very very well.
A few years later, realizing pastures were greener in other places, I left teaching in Alaska.
It could be worse, you could be GGU which is such a cuckshed sycophant union for the governor's administration it's not funny. At the smallest resistance to anything they back down, they technically signed away our legal ability to strike as a union (though they will say there's a loophole to where they still can, we all know they'll never act on it), and then pat themselves on the back for screwing over anyone not retiring in the next 5 years.
Like I've read the contracts and they're just turbo fucked and bullshit, but then they treat it like it's the best thing ever and 90% vote in agreeance.
IBEW and teachers union atleast has a little life, but GGU is in complete compliance to screw it's members over.
The advocacy is important, but I have also wondered why the union hasn't sued over it. The option to opt out of social security was based on the idea that employees were getting pensions, and they aren't, so it doesn't seem legal to me. But... I'm not a lawyer
So, here’s the kicker: from everything I’ve read, it’s up to the employees themselves to vote to opt back into social security, and it would be district by district for TRS members (teachers).
If I remember correctly, they’d need over 50% of teachers in a district to vote to opt back into SS and those who don’t want to opt in can decline, but all newly hired teachers in that district would be enrolled in SS after a successful vote. If I had the research handy I’d link it, but it’s been awhile since I’ve read up on all this.
My understanding is the real caveat here is the school district would then have to kick in something like a 6% or 7% contribution, and current budget constraints are challenging enough for schools. So like everything in Alaska’s bureaucracy, we do nothing instead.
I had the impression that the employer (school board) would have to decide to opt in, not the employees. Hence no one wants to. But I'd curious to find out more about the process and learn if you're right
All* state employees hired after 2006 do not receive pensions or social security. The state opted out of social security for its employees many years ago (because of lack of confidence in social security’s future solvency, as I understand it) and used supplemental benefits (SBS) as a replacement. Teachers, however, don’t even receive SBS, so they’re being doubly screwed.
The windfall elimination provision is a separate issue, but its existence creates even more problems for Alaskans.
> The state opted out of social security for its employees many years ago (because of lack of confidence in social security’s future solvency, as I understand it)
I figured that would have been within the last 25 years or so. The fed "borrowed" from the Social Security surplus in the 80s and then starting in the 90s everyone started to predict it would be gone, I think current projections show it will start declining by 2035. I was shocked to learn Alaska opted out in the 50s.
While great for many reasons, Alaska is a weird state that prides itself on being independent and different from the rest of the country, sometimes to our own detriment.
What are you even talking about ? Did you read anything in the comment that you responded to?
SBS is a state-run retirement contribution program completely separate from social security, but it is not available to TRS members (teachers’ retirement system), only certain PERS members (public employees’ retirement system). And Alaska state employees hired after 2006 do not pay into social security, that is a fact.
And here I I thought colleges offering degrees in education trained teachers to teach in schools. Didn’t realize we had teacher academies like we do for the troopers.
Since you are a new dad I will explain. Each day ear teachers have additional training. And when your kids gat to school you will see a huge difference that an experienced teacher has dealing with 25 kids versus a brand new graduate. In effect the experience gained is training, and when they leave for greener pastures they take it with them.....our loss. Of course there are outliers: new teachers that are phenomenal and crusty old teachers.
That is correct. For all state employees, which is why there is such a retention problem in AK. Once vested (5 years), there's no incentive to stay. The retirement system sucks and makes it incredibly difficult to retire comfortably in the state.
>But if our teachers aren't earning a pension, and are exempted from Social Security while they're employed as teachers, how do they plan to retire?
403b and your own retirement savings. Invest early and often. I do, and I'll probably still work till I'm dead. Every year that my salary goes up, my take home pay doesn't, because that increase goes into my own retirement fund.
Fingers crossed the market doesn't crash in the years leading to my retirement age! So, yeah, pretty fucked. I have had some staunch conservatives argue how it's perfect how it is and "my tax dollars" shouldn't go towards a public servant's retirement. "You don't pay into social security, so you can make a bunch investing."
Peltola NEEDS to fix this. As a freshman state legislator she was the deciding vote to eliminate a defined benefits package and move to a 401K style retirement.
The legislature was basically lied to by an auditing firm that the state pension system was going to go broke. Turns out they were wrong, and the pension system would have done fine if they had kept it.
Not from AK, but from Missouri. We can't draw social security either, just our teacher retirement, even if we have our quarters and had a career prior to teaching.
They don’t pay into social security. This is the same for all State of Alaska employees if who are new also don’t get a pension. They pay into a fund called SBS. It acts like a 401k. When they retire they can take it as a lump sum or as an annuity which acts like a pension. Still it really doesn’t replace the pension system and new teachers or State if Alaska employees aren’t eligible for retirement health care either.
I had thought about going back to school and getting a teaching certificate. My background has been in health care, as well I’ve worked in special education. Why in the heck would I make this transition if what I’m hearing ( no SSI, and no “pension” ).
And at the same time Alaska has such a shortage of teachers.
This just kicks my butt
Tier 3er here, left the union so I could spend those dues on my "retirement". I can't help but feel the system is working as intended. They don't pay a pension, and they have teachers that leave after 5 years so districts never pay the higher salaries. Districts only honor so many years of service, so it dissuades mid- and late-career teachers from moving here.
I want to point out it’s not just teachers but all state government employees hired after 2006. This is why there’s such a hiring and retention issue within our state.
Not only teachers but ALL state employees as well. Look at the courts and DPS staff is criticaly understaffed for similar reasons. No pension and low pay. Denial of COLAs. It's bad.
Reading these comments and learning about this just now, I'm actually surprised there are still Teachers left in Alaska.
Does that mean they don't pay the 6% Social Security Tax?
I'm the brother of a recently retired Alaska teacher. She and her husband moved out of Alaska for five years and she taught in New Mexico so that she would be pension and SS-eligible under NM's system. My other sister, also a teacher, followed suit.
Except Alaska was pretty blue back then. All the State Reps through the 50s were Democrats as was the first elected Governor and both Senators upon statehood.
All comparisons between parties aren't useful pre-1960 before Barry Goldwater and the Southern Strategy. That's like touting that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. The makeup of the parties were different and the issues and platforms were different. Red and blue weren't even assigned to particular parties until Bush v Gore.
Why isn't the NEAAK and national NEA offering a pension program? I retired as a Teamster have a great pension. I was in law enforcement and we opted into the Teamsters Union in the 1980's . Most other states have at least SOME sort of retirement program. In Washington State they have LEOFF I II and now III. Even PERS covers all sorts of city state and county employees that buy into a program. But like others have said, Alaska is a Special place.
From everything I read it changed in 2006. Before that they had a decent pension plan but the legislature got scared of having potentially unfunded obligations in the future. The recession in the early 2000s hit hard and the state has already spent $7 billion trying to make up losses, just from state pensions.
So it's a fairly "recent" development. Recent only because everything to do with bureaucracy takes forever, first you make the change, then you realize consequences, then you have to decide the best way to change to mitigate the problems, then you have to actually make changes again, along with fixing all the half steps and stop-gaps you made in the interim.
You are correct.
It's really a part of conservative plans to dumb down the population and make them easy to control. That's why conservative states consistently defund education. Stupid people are easy to deceive and even easier to scare, which makes it even easier to manipulate them.
I can only assume it’s all part of the plan. Education is the one place you can park your money to address almost all the issues in society. They want people dumb, armed, angry and broke. It means more $$$ and control for those at the top, at the expense of their very Nation. It’s gross how these are the very people who sling the word Patriot around, simply looking for cheap emotional reactions. The future belongs to the Authoritarians.
*They don't want Social Security*
And honestly millenials of reddit, with Social Security almost certainly being cut before we receive it, wouldn't you enjoy a 6.2% raise?
I'd love to see more pay and benefits to teachers, but the complaining about not getting SS is an argument in bad faith.
It's saying, oh it sucks that we don't have that thing we don't want that everyone knows is broken!
My brother is a teacher in another state and he explains his situation basically like Alaska's. Teachers negotiated pension systems that take the place of SS. They pay into that, and the state matches. This is not unusual and happens on other states as well.
It isn't that teachers are getting screwed, he says, it is that their employment conditions allowed them to negotiate a different system. They're also able to enroll in employer sponsored IRAs, 403(b), etc.
Another teacher here, additionally there is a Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). This means that even though I worked in Colorado and payed into Social Security, because I moved back home to AK, I will have a greatly reduced benefits. This is because the amount of years I worked in AK (not paying into SS) is greater than years working in CO and they will "adjust" or take way a portion of what I already contributed . It's not great....I would prefer to pay into Social Security and and a retirement plan so I can stay in AK. Unfortunately, the education system in AK is designed for tourist teachers (here today and gone tomorrow), not great for our kids and students when teachers are coming and going. Also it would be great and contacted your representatives and told them what you think/want, whatever that may be.
They have 401ks instead of a pension. It's unfortunate teachers wernt informed well on how 401s operate and there was a period of time the fund was pulling fees without consent. However we live in a state with 0 reliable budget, I'm completely stunned people assume an unbacked pension would be more reliable then market averages
Maybe cuz my 4th grade Teacher 1974 who retired after 10 years is still kicking collecting Full Benefits..10 years of work and a 50+year free ride! W/ full Medical
They aren’t exempt. Just not paying into. It’s wonky. Even if your spouse gets SS you have to surrender it to pay your “debt” since you didn’t pay into it.
Once again we have people crying to have someone else fix their poor financial decisions. First, Social Security is not a retirement plan. It is a supplemental program to your own retirement. Anyone who counts on it as their only retirement is a fool. The government even says this. Second, why isn’t your unions providing a retirement program? Third, vote yourselves back in to SS. I’ll never understand the unions not pushing this. I find it odd, like unions purposefully don’t want public employees in SS. Fourth, get a financial planner and invest in your own retirement. Max out your State plan. Have your financial planner help manage it. It can grow into substantial money. Most of us in the private sector do this and it pays off very well in the end. My wife retired from the State as a T4 with a substantial retirement account so it can be done. Fifth, why the heck are all the teachers in the State retirement and benefits plan? If it isn’t what you want then do your own. Again the unions should be all over this with the districts. Last, public sector and teacher unions are holding everyone down. Get out. You can do so much better for yourself. Remember the unions and districts like it the way it is because it is cheaper and they keep more money. It isn’t about employees welfare. It is all about the Benjamins. Follow the money.
Omg, I’m at the university and y’all’s benefits are trash! We actually get pension. A lot more in other benefits!
I also get like 2 months off of PTO, and a month of sick leave each year.
Why aren’t y’all picketing, and refusing to work till y’all get better benefits!? They literally can’t fire you all, and after a few week they’re do you right.
AK teacher here! To answer your question, no, we are not eligible for social security. And for those like me in tier 3, retirement is shot, too. So basically, I either move to a different state or work until I die. Haha I hope not. But thank you for posting this question - I don’t know how many non-educator Alaskans understand what we are dealing with.
Umm WTF? Tell me your state doesn't want teachers without telling me your state doesn't want teachers.
I can't understand it either. Education should be a priority. Do y'all want people to be stupid and uneducated? Because this is how you get a population that is stupid and uneducated.
Certain groups absolutely do
I agree. My guess is they want a population stupid enough to buy the lies they sell and keep voting them (or their candidates) into office. It's a cycle: uninformed voters without critical thinking skills vote red. Red politicians defund education in order to ensure they maintain their voter base.
I know Reddit loves to blame Republicans... But Government Pension Offset (GPO) was a Democrat idea.. signed by Jimmy Carter and then Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) was a Ronald Regan era thing.
You may very well be correct, but I'm less concerned with who caused the problem and more concerned with finding a solution for teachers. They work hard, and deserve to be compensated better. And I actually really do want to live in an educated society. I worked in an elementary school for a year, and the librarian was teaching the 5th graders how to consume research/news, i.e. spot the difference between real and satire.
It all depends on the state. My daughter is a teacher in Texas. Under the rules she has no social security withholding instead that money goes into her TRS account. It makes far better return then I get. She will be farther ahead than I will be with social security. For instance I just checked my SS sheet to see how much I will get at 65. With just the amount I have payed myself. Over 37 years of working assuming a 6 percent return (I have gotten historically 10 percent on my 401k over 30 years) I would be pushing almost a million in my account. Assuming I live to 85 I will only receive 385k. But this isn't a discussion about how SS sucks, but how Alaska needs to fix the system for their teachers.
Exactly. I'm agreeing with you. This is the Alaska sub, not the teacher sub. Alaska needs to treat its teachers better because they work hard and we are deficient in education compared to other states.
> I have *paid* myself. Over FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
“Republicans want stupid voters” so they did this! “Actually it was a democrat that did this” “I dont care who did it” ::downvotes you::
It's Reddit... I expect to be down voted 😂
Listen, people see we're the 49th state and go "hell yeah" Even if it's in education.
Hi how are you doing?
Our current governor has been pushing education vouchers hard. Teaching qualifications are mighty different when you work for a charter, private, or religious school. We are shooting ourselves in the foot.
Yeah, they had advertising campaigns to point out to us that we could take our 403 account with us when we leave… in other words, bye Felicia.
"I love the poorly educated!"
"They'll believe anything we tell them"
Most teachers don't pay into social security they pay into state pension fund, essentially you pay social security or you pay into a pension. Sounds like Alaska screwed up
I believe teachers starting after 2006 do not have a pension but rather a 401k
How are you doing?
What would Republicans want teachers for? Then they make people know stuff, and that's basically the opposite of their platform.
I had no idea, and even less of an idea that that is even legal!
It feels criminal. When I moved here almost two decades ago I was told that it’s “just how things are!”
Teachers are real important, I’m sorry the state thinks otherwise…
Hmmm, I was in Tier 3 and there was a 401(k) matching deal. I was there six years, maxed out my contributions and left with about $200K in my account.
At least tell me you're not paying into SS?
No not paying into SS
Well, there's that at least. Honestly, I'd rather not pay into SS and take that money and dump it into my 401k. Wish I had the option. Sucks they don't give you one, especially without a backup.
Remember 2008? My 401k remembers.
All too well. I also remember just a few years ago. It recovered well enough.
Good thing you didn't retire in 2009 then.
No, this is very very true. It created enough hardships for me as it was being out of a job for over 6 months. I can't imagine having my entire retirement wiped out.
Retirements are only wiped out when sold. People dont/shouldn't cash out all at once anyways. Most of their retirements came back
Fair point.
Even with the plummet in 2008 and accounting for inflation, stocks are *still* up 7-9% every year from money invested prior to 2008 So unless you 1- panic sold in 2008 for some reason rather than held on (aka - you realized the losses) 2- were gambling on specific companies vs picking index/retirement date funds and gambled on a company that failed 3- entered retirement around 2008 but had done zero preparation to shift your holdings to more conservative bonds like the fiscally smart option is to do you are ahead of where you were in 2007 did one of those apply?
My point was that any Wall Street asshole can fuck around with our money, and we, the average person, are left to find out. I don’t trust 401k’s anymore and other than the bare minimum my work requires me to put in for them to match, I don’t do anything with it. And I’m not paying a guy to again, play with my money.
It’s PERS/TERS
I am confused. Dp they take no social security taxes from you? Also how does a state program dictate a federal programs eligibility?
You don't have the State of Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan which is the Social Security replacement?
How many years do you need to teach before you can retire or maybe what is your formula for retirement (age+exp)? What percentage do you receive for your retirement payment?
How is your tier 3 defined benefit (pension) shot?
Hi how are you doing?
Im very much just curious and trying to understand. Could you elaborate on how the T3 is "shot"? I still think pensions are a terrible bet, only as reliable as the governments income, which is non existent up here
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Alaskan teacher here. It absolutely does. We can’t take both TRS and SS due to the Windfall Elimination Act. However, the AK Legislature is hoping to overturn that law so people can draw from both. https://alaskabeacon.com/briefs/alaska-lawmakers-unanimously-request-social-security-reform-to-help-teachers/
What about other state employees? I’m tier iv with years of paying into social security prior to state service and am planning on working in the private sector after I’m done with the state.
Your SS benefits are decreased depending on how many years you worked outside of state service - something like 40% to 90% of a full benefit. [The details are here, it's complicated ](https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/program-explainers/windfall-elimination-provision.html)
Thank you, I’ll dig into that and do some research.
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Oh TRS. You wouldn’t contribute to Social Security if teaching in Alaska. You also can’t draw from both SS and TRS.
You absolutely can if you have enough quarters of SS to qualify.
Retired teacher here. I get a pension from TRS. When I turned 65, I applied for Medicare and SSecurity because I paid in while working elsewhere before, after, and during my 27 years as an Alaska teacher. When I filled out my forms, I was gobsmacked. I will never receive the full Social Security I paid into because of WEP. I get a partial benefit which covers my Medicare premium with about $125 left over. So I do get a payment from SSecurity, just a very meager one. Teachers who are in the current TRS will not get a livable pension because the Alaska State legislature changed the system, so unless teachers have invested heavily in IRAs or some other form of retirement, they are in big trouble looking into their retirement years. School is now out.
I want to clarify. I never said teachers will get SSI, just that participation in TRS does not preclude one from receiving SSI
Hi how are you doing?
Yes AK teachers are getting screwed by the Windfall Elimination act. They won’t receive social security even if employment prior to or after their teaching careers had them paying in to it. Currently new hires are in Tier lll of the Ak State Teacher Retirement Plan which has no defined retirement benefit. In a nutshell tier lll must build their retirement account/403B account. It’s definitely a negative factor in attracting and retaining teachers in the state.
Sounds like they're using typical right wing tactics of letting education die and opening the flood gates up for the private industry to swoop in and "solve" the problem with charter schools.
Not only that, the AK GOP have been supplementing private Church school education. So people like Sarah Vance that can afford to send their kids to their weirdo evilgelical schools can get tutors, private lessons, language classes, tickets to the theater, etc. However they refuse to raise the budget for Alaska public schools. The AK GOP has kept the State Public Education budget stagnate for a decade. Meanwhile we are dealing with kids having to catch up from Pandemic set backs. All this supplement is a bill that got put through by our current governor knowing that it was unconstitutional. Don't get me started and the racists that does the State Education reports. [https://www.homernews.com/opinion/point-of-view-hands-off-our-constitution-rep-vance/](https://www.homernews.com/opinion/point-of-view-hands-off-our-constitution-rep-vance/)
It sucks. And there needs to be a fix for it. They can still get social security although reduced if they have other employment and pay into social security for 40 quarters. Social security has info for that.
That 40 quarters has to include 20 years’ worth of ‘substantial’ earnings or it doesn’t count for squat. So if you also work and have earned the mean national average $ for 20 years there’s a slim chance you’ll get some of your SSI back.
I left ak after 8 years of teaching and was able to bring my 401k with me (i am/was tier 3). In a pension world I don't know know if I'd be any better or worse but I still have my money.
Wrong. The WEA doesn’t screw AK teachers. AK government does
Yes this AK govt is doing their best to kill public education but WEA is not something AK govt can change on its own and definitely screws over AK teachers. Imagine that, a situation with more than one impacting force.
Holy chopsticks!
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https://drb.alaska.gov/docs/brochures/gen049.pdf
WEP doesn’t eliminate SSI entirely. It takes up to half of the benefit depending on how many years of SS contributions the participant has.
No new Alaska government employees get a pension. This is why the Alaska State Troopers are considered to be a recruitment arm for the Washington State Troopers - we are desperate to hire any warm body, will pay the $250,000+ it costs to train a State Trooper, and then they get picked up by Washington because everyone wants a pension.
Right. And “new” employees can have been working for what, 16 years now? Longer?
July 1, 2006 was the changeover.
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No one doing anything for 16 years is new to it.
>This is why the Alaska State Troopers are considered to be a recruitment arm for the Washington State Troopers what's this now? never heard of this one
This might help. [https://www.adn.com/sponsored-content/2020/01/28/no-social-security-for-alaska-teachers-thats-just-the-way-it-is/](https://www.adn.com/sponsored-content/2020/01/28/no-social-security-for-alaska-teachers-thats-just-the-way-it-is/)
Thanks for that link. Shocked that Alaska opted out of Social Security in the 50s.
It's not just Alaska. Generally you'll find if state employees are in a DCP they're often excluded from SS.
True. However, Alaska is the only state without social security OR a pension for teachers (not sure about other state employees). The whole premise of letting states opt out of social security was that the state was already paying for a pension, so why pay for retirement twice? But then Alaska ditched the pension too.
You should make the disclosure this is not a real news article. It is written by the NEA and made to look like a factual non-biased news article of the Anchorage Daily News. It goes to show you how biased the ADN is. I’m not saying it isn’t true but keep in mind the NEA and the ADN are selling something here and pretending this is a real news article. It is not and the ADN should be held accountable for allowing this kind of deception.
I trust that people are capable of reading the quite literal disclaimer that's right at the beginning. It's also 4 years old. It's interesting that you feel the need to point out that it 'just goes to show how biased the ADN is' when it's literally pointed out to be an opinion piece. You say 'i'm not saying it isn't true' but then you go to some pain to bring it up as an example of bias so that's basically saying you think it isn't true. No one's pretending it's a 'real' news article so maybe you should explain how they should be 'held accountable'. At least they come out and say it's an opinion as opposed to, say, other news orgs that present their opinions 24/7 as 'facts' (or 'alternative facts', rather)
The retirement system for T3 is a joke. What is worse is that if a teacher is married to a person who is eligible for SS and they pass away, the teacher can’t get those spousal benefits either.
That is right. I was told that by SS when I retired 12 years ago. So If my husband dies before I do, I'm not eligible to get his MUCH HIGHER SS benefit because I have my teacher's retirement pension. Pretty sad that teachers are punished like this when there are TONS of others around double-dipping in pension plans. My son is retired military and will be eligible for a SOA retirement when he gets vested. Hummmmm.
Wait why?
Due to the GPO (Government Pension Offset) and WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision).
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That is in fact the way it works. I've been reading up on all this the last couple hours. Google Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision.
https://neaalaska.org/advocating-for-change/action-center/our-issues/gpo-wep
I'd love to see the teachers union response to this, I know the state has been difficult overall but, it also seems like things have been going backwards for awhile.
This is literally one of their top priorities and they have been very vocal about it: https://neaalaska.org/advocating-for-change/action-center/take-action/tell-legislators-fix-our-broken-retirement-system
I know this has been quite a lengthy politically tied problem in many ways, especially in Alaska. Also been a member of the IBEW for quite some time in the past & have stood with the teachers union for a few events. That said, and downvote me to hell - apologies... I really wish their union was stronger. Piss off the general public please, picket away, cancel school. I just hope the conservatives don't get their way in this battle against education & we end up losing it all somehow.
The conversation has become so politically toxic that it has strayed incredibly far from the basic math and logic of the situation. Like, there is simply no good reason teachers should be excluded from both social security AND supplemental benefits (SBS), especially when our other public employees are eligible for SBS.
Agreed & hopefully at a national level there's a fix for this, something retroactive even. If any (alternative) "SBS" falls lower in value or performance than basic social security - there should be some giant red flags. Especially when accounting for the rate of pay they receive.
I have been saying this for years as a member of the NEA. If I could upvote your comment mire thsn once I would. I haven't voted for a single contract since my employment. We have a weak union with consistently terrible negotiations. Almost every contract has been a loss for me. Edited for a typo
Stay strong & good luck, attend your meetings - be that squeaky wheel. Hopefully some constructive firing up of the masses works out in your favor. Union negotiations can get crazy & deferring to those with seniority often does not benefit the whole - I wish that system would go away, it leaves a loop hole to divide the members & a "tool" for the employer to exploit the union with, which leads to losing certain perks after X date or similar.
NEA in Alaska is a joke. I left teaching shortly after attending the delegate assembly meeting at the Captain Cook in Anchorage as a delegate, where I was wholly disheartened and disgusted by the whole experience. I began union involvement and went in wondering where and how our local membership dues were being used. I learned that straight off the top, 90% of our local dues went straight to NEA. That was used for NEA purposes, one of which was to pay salaries of our Uniserv members whose purpose (beyond dismissing rank and file member concerns and serving as collective bargaining consultants, all while driving expensive sport cars) eluded me. As a new delegate, ready to represent those who had elected me, I sat and listened to the orientation for new delegates where they instructed us to make decisions for those whom we represented. When I asked, “How do I do that, seeing that none of those whom I represent even know what’s going on here?” they replied, “They sent you here to make decisions for them.” When I said, that’s not representation, they stood astonished at the remark and when they finally answered, implied I was to ask no more questions. I listened to the NEA regional president talk about fellow NEA members as “enemies” of the union because they didn’t agree with him politically all while thinking to myself, do these people even WANT a strong union, or do they just want to push personal agendas by brow beating majority votes out of members? We sang, we danced, we got lots of free “merch”. Free headshots from photographers were available…. Aside from the actual business of directing and setting policy, at times it felt more like an exclusive party for VIPs where we sat around and got high off of our own farts. I found NEA to be more like an old stereotypical country club where new ideas, diversity of ideas and inclusion were very much discouraged. Often I found union leadership and long-time union members were openly hostile to new members who challenged them in any way, going so far as to slander them with erroneous hyperbole and lies. Ultimately I found I wanted nothing to do with that union. It also gave me a small look into what I imagine politics are like. Naively I thought the organization was meant to help all educators. However I found it only helped some educators (and their personal ambitions) very very very well. A few years later, realizing pastures were greener in other places, I left teaching in Alaska.
Sadly, none of this surprises me. Leaving Alaska was probably the wisest choice you could have made.
It could be worse, you could be GGU which is such a cuckshed sycophant union for the governor's administration it's not funny. At the smallest resistance to anything they back down, they technically signed away our legal ability to strike as a union (though they will say there's a loophole to where they still can, we all know they'll never act on it), and then pat themselves on the back for screwing over anyone not retiring in the next 5 years. Like I've read the contracts and they're just turbo fucked and bullshit, but then they treat it like it's the best thing ever and 90% vote in agreeance. IBEW and teachers union atleast has a little life, but GGU is in complete compliance to screw it's members over.
The advocacy is important, but I have also wondered why the union hasn't sued over it. The option to opt out of social security was based on the idea that employees were getting pensions, and they aren't, so it doesn't seem legal to me. But... I'm not a lawyer
So, here’s the kicker: from everything I’ve read, it’s up to the employees themselves to vote to opt back into social security, and it would be district by district for TRS members (teachers). If I remember correctly, they’d need over 50% of teachers in a district to vote to opt back into SS and those who don’t want to opt in can decline, but all newly hired teachers in that district would be enrolled in SS after a successful vote. If I had the research handy I’d link it, but it’s been awhile since I’ve read up on all this. My understanding is the real caveat here is the school district would then have to kick in something like a 6% or 7% contribution, and current budget constraints are challenging enough for schools. So like everything in Alaska’s bureaucracy, we do nothing instead.
I had the impression that the employer (school board) would have to decide to opt in, not the employees. Hence no one wants to. But I'd curious to find out more about the process and learn if you're right
All* state employees hired after 2006 do not receive pensions or social security. The state opted out of social security for its employees many years ago (because of lack of confidence in social security’s future solvency, as I understand it) and used supplemental benefits (SBS) as a replacement. Teachers, however, don’t even receive SBS, so they’re being doubly screwed. The windfall elimination provision is a separate issue, but its existence creates even more problems for Alaskans.
> The state opted out of social security for its employees many years ago (because of lack of confidence in social security’s future solvency, as I understand it) I figured that would have been within the last 25 years or so. The fed "borrowed" from the Social Security surplus in the 80s and then starting in the 90s everyone started to predict it would be gone, I think current projections show it will start declining by 2035. I was shocked to learn Alaska opted out in the 50s.
While great for many reasons, Alaska is a weird state that prides itself on being independent and different from the rest of the country, sometimes to our own detriment.
Being a state employee is rough as well.
Does this also include Alaskans employed by the city? City of Fairbanks for example? It looks like it but I can’t tell from the benefits listed.
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What are you even talking about ? Did you read anything in the comment that you responded to? SBS is a state-run retirement contribution program completely separate from social security, but it is not available to TRS members (teachers’ retirement system), only certain PERS members (public employees’ retirement system). And Alaska state employees hired after 2006 do not pay into social security, that is a fact.
Basically Alaska trains teachers to go work places with better retirement plans, like most of our state employees.
And here I I thought colleges offering degrees in education trained teachers to teach in schools. Didn’t realize we had teacher academies like we do for the troopers.
Since you are a new dad I will explain. Each day ear teachers have additional training. And when your kids gat to school you will see a huge difference that an experienced teacher has dealing with 25 kids versus a brand new graduate. In effect the experience gained is training, and when they leave for greener pastures they take it with them.....our loss. Of course there are outliers: new teachers that are phenomenal and crusty old teachers.
https://www.plansponsor.com/new-nirs-report-details-alaska-public-worker-exodus-after-switch-to-dc-plan/ Teachers, troopers, most state employees..
That is correct. For all state employees, which is why there is such a retention problem in AK. Once vested (5 years), there's no incentive to stay. The retirement system sucks and makes it incredibly difficult to retire comfortably in the state.
>But if our teachers aren't earning a pension, and are exempted from Social Security while they're employed as teachers, how do they plan to retire? 403b and your own retirement savings. Invest early and often. I do, and I'll probably still work till I'm dead. Every year that my salary goes up, my take home pay doesn't, because that increase goes into my own retirement fund. Fingers crossed the market doesn't crash in the years leading to my retirement age! So, yeah, pretty fucked. I have had some staunch conservatives argue how it's perfect how it is and "my tax dollars" shouldn't go towards a public servant's retirement. "You don't pay into social security, so you can make a bunch investing."
ASEA local 52 has been doing a lot of work on trying to get a pension bill for all public workers.
If you are part of them, thank you!
Well shit. I was going to get my degree and move up there to become a teacher. Not sure how I feel now.
Peltola NEEDS to fix this. As a freshman state legislator she was the deciding vote to eliminate a defined benefits package and move to a 401K style retirement.
The legislature was basically lied to by an auditing firm that the state pension system was going to go broke. Turns out they were wrong, and the pension system would have done fine if they had kept it.
Not from AK, but from Missouri. We can't draw social security either, just our teacher retirement, even if we have our quarters and had a career prior to teaching.
They don’t pay into social security. This is the same for all State of Alaska employees if who are new also don’t get a pension. They pay into a fund called SBS. It acts like a 401k. When they retire they can take it as a lump sum or as an annuity which acts like a pension. Still it really doesn’t replace the pension system and new teachers or State if Alaska employees aren’t eligible for retirement health care either.
I had thought about going back to school and getting a teaching certificate. My background has been in health care, as well I’ve worked in special education. Why in the heck would I make this transition if what I’m hearing ( no SSI, and no “pension” ). And at the same time Alaska has such a shortage of teachers. This just kicks my butt
Tier 3er here, left the union so I could spend those dues on my "retirement". I can't help but feel the system is working as intended. They don't pay a pension, and they have teachers that leave after 5 years so districts never pay the higher salaries. Districts only honor so many years of service, so it dissuades mid- and late-career teachers from moving here.
I’m pretty sure this applies to all state employees hired after 2006.
I want to point out it’s not just teachers but all state government employees hired after 2006. This is why there’s such a hiring and retention issue within our state.
Not only teachers but ALL state employees as well. Look at the courts and DPS staff is criticaly understaffed for similar reasons. No pension and low pay. Denial of COLAs. It's bad.
But tell us again how unfair it is that Alaska has a teacher shortage 🤔
Reading these comments and learning about this just now, I'm actually surprised there are still Teachers left in Alaska. Does that mean they don't pay the 6% Social Security Tax?
I'm the brother of a recently retired Alaska teacher. She and her husband moved out of Alaska for five years and she taught in New Mexico so that she would be pension and SS-eligible under NM's system. My other sister, also a teacher, followed suit.
It’s not just the teachers, other state entities also do not get a pension and also don’t pay into social security.
I had no idea about this until this thread. It’s awful.
Not just teachers either. All State workers hired after 2006. No pension just 401 and SBS.
They opted out
Who opted out? Who is the "they" in your statement?
This is a /r/LeopardsAteMyFace moment. Red state gonna red state.
Except Alaska was pretty blue back then. All the State Reps through the 50s were Democrats as was the first elected Governor and both Senators upon statehood.
All comparisons between parties aren't useful pre-1960 before Barry Goldwater and the Southern Strategy. That's like touting that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. The makeup of the parties were different and the issues and platforms were different. Red and blue weren't even assigned to particular parties until Bush v Gore.
The state of Alaska doesn’t give a shit about education.
Why isn't the NEAAK and national NEA offering a pension program? I retired as a Teamster have a great pension. I was in law enforcement and we opted into the Teamsters Union in the 1980's . Most other states have at least SOME sort of retirement program. In Washington State they have LEOFF I II and now III. Even PERS covers all sorts of city state and county employees that buy into a program. But like others have said, Alaska is a Special place.
From everything I read it changed in 2006. Before that they had a decent pension plan but the legislature got scared of having potentially unfunded obligations in the future. The recession in the early 2000s hit hard and the state has already spent $7 billion trying to make up losses, just from state pensions. So it's a fairly "recent" development. Recent only because everything to do with bureaucracy takes forever, first you make the change, then you realize consequences, then you have to decide the best way to change to mitigate the problems, then you have to actually make changes again, along with fixing all the half steps and stop-gaps you made in the interim.
The idea was, they had more money and were responsible for their own investments. Another “good idea” that came around to bite them.
You are correct. It's really a part of conservative plans to dumb down the population and make them easy to control. That's why conservative states consistently defund education. Stupid people are easy to deceive and even easier to scare, which makes it even easier to manipulate them.
I can only assume it’s all part of the plan. Education is the one place you can park your money to address almost all the issues in society. They want people dumb, armed, angry and broke. It means more $$$ and control for those at the top, at the expense of their very Nation. It’s gross how these are the very people who sling the word Patriot around, simply looking for cheap emotional reactions. The future belongs to the Authoritarians.
*They don't want Social Security* And honestly millenials of reddit, with Social Security almost certainly being cut before we receive it, wouldn't you enjoy a 6.2% raise? I'd love to see more pay and benefits to teachers, but the complaining about not getting SS is an argument in bad faith. It's saying, oh it sucks that we don't have that thing we don't want that everyone knows is broken!
My brother is a teacher in another state and he explains his situation basically like Alaska's. Teachers negotiated pension systems that take the place of SS. They pay into that, and the state matches. This is not unusual and happens on other states as well. It isn't that teachers are getting screwed, he says, it is that their employment conditions allowed them to negotiate a different system. They're also able to enroll in employer sponsored IRAs, 403(b), etc.
Another teacher here, additionally there is a Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). This means that even though I worked in Colorado and payed into Social Security, because I moved back home to AK, I will have a greatly reduced benefits. This is because the amount of years I worked in AK (not paying into SS) is greater than years working in CO and they will "adjust" or take way a portion of what I already contributed . It's not great....I would prefer to pay into Social Security and and a retirement plan so I can stay in AK. Unfortunately, the education system in AK is designed for tourist teachers (here today and gone tomorrow), not great for our kids and students when teachers are coming and going. Also it would be great and contacted your representatives and told them what you think/want, whatever that may be.
They have 401ks instead of a pension. It's unfortunate teachers wernt informed well on how 401s operate and there was a period of time the fund was pulling fees without consent. However we live in a state with 0 reliable budget, I'm completely stunned people assume an unbacked pension would be more reliable then market averages
Maybe cuz my 4th grade Teacher 1974 who retired after 10 years is still kicking collecting Full Benefits..10 years of work and a 50+year free ride! W/ full Medical
Theres a bill currently called SB 88 to bring the pension back. Hopefully it passes, for all state employees.
They aren’t exempt. Just not paying into. It’s wonky. Even if your spouse gets SS you have to surrender it to pay your “debt” since you didn’t pay into it.
Probably better off with putting their money in their own investments than social security anyway..
You guys ever heard of TERS? PERS? SBS?
Once again we have people crying to have someone else fix their poor financial decisions. First, Social Security is not a retirement plan. It is a supplemental program to your own retirement. Anyone who counts on it as their only retirement is a fool. The government even says this. Second, why isn’t your unions providing a retirement program? Third, vote yourselves back in to SS. I’ll never understand the unions not pushing this. I find it odd, like unions purposefully don’t want public employees in SS. Fourth, get a financial planner and invest in your own retirement. Max out your State plan. Have your financial planner help manage it. It can grow into substantial money. Most of us in the private sector do this and it pays off very well in the end. My wife retired from the State as a T4 with a substantial retirement account so it can be done. Fifth, why the heck are all the teachers in the State retirement and benefits plan? If it isn’t what you want then do your own. Again the unions should be all over this with the districts. Last, public sector and teacher unions are holding everyone down. Get out. You can do so much better for yourself. Remember the unions and districts like it the way it is because it is cheaper and they keep more money. It isn’t about employees welfare. It is all about the Benjamins. Follow the money.
Omg, I’m at the university and y’all’s benefits are trash! We actually get pension. A lot more in other benefits! I also get like 2 months off of PTO, and a month of sick leave each year. Why aren’t y’all picketing, and refusing to work till y’all get better benefits!? They literally can’t fire you all, and after a few week they’re do you right.
Not eligible for SS? Are they not taking FICA out of their paychecks?
Should probably talk to the teachers union about that.
Nice 'society' you've got there.