The Face book page of the Texas Retired teachers Association www.face book.com/pages/TRTA-Texas-Retired-Teachers -Association/126989714019649 recently posted an article from USA Today describing how state legislators pass laws to give themselves lucrative pensions. In the case of the Texas Legislature, the House and Senate passed a law tieing their pensions to the salary of state judges, and then in the intervening years raised judges salaries from $42,000 to $125000, and thus have now guaranteed themselves a retirement pension of $125,000 per year. By way of contrast the average retired Texas teacher receives a pension of $ 30,000.
This obviously reflects poorly on the legislatures' sense of equity and openness. Perhaps the old joke is true that" no man's life or property is safe as long as the Texas Legislature is in session". Should something be done to correct this accumulative abuse of power? Absolutely! Would this make us feel better? Probably! However this would do little to improve the problems of retired teachers in areas where laws could ameliorate those problems. Instead we need to insure we have clear goals , and strategies to reach those goals, in order to persuade the public and the legislature to favor our cause.
Goals
1. Cost of Living Adjustment. As most of us are well aware retired Texas Teachers have not received a cost of living adjustment since 2001. Although, fortunately, the inflation rate has been low the past couple of years, the inflation rate has still averaged three% for the decade, meaning a teacher who retired in 2001 with an annuity of $ 30,000 now has the equivalency of $20,000 in spending power. Ten more years without a COLA and the same inflation rate would leave the same retiree with $ 10,000 in spending power. I, therefore, believe that a COLA is the most pressing problem facing retirees. However there are others that the legislature needs to adjust such as:
2. TRS Care. The TRS Care program for retirees is currently serving 212,000 retirees, their spouses and their beneficiaries. Unfortunately the program is funded on a pay as you go basis meaning each session of the legislature must declare the funding is available for the next biennium. The fund is currently due to run out of funds by 2014. Some form of permanent funding must be created quickly. These two problems must be addressed at the state level but some others must be addressed at the national level, such as:
3. WEP and the Offset The U.S. Congress passed two laws referred to by the acronyms WEP and the offset. One of these laws limits the amount of Social Security a TRS retiree can draw by up to two-thirds, while the other prevents the spouse of the retiree from drawing any of his/her social security.
4. Paying TRS Care premium pretax. One of the benefits enjoyed by many workers including those still employed by school districts is the premiums for health care are paid pretax ; a benefit not currently enjoyed by TRS annuitants. To illustrate, a current TRS retiree might be receiving a pension of $35,000 and paying $4,500 a month in TRS Care premiums. Under current laws the TRS annuitant must pay taxes on all $35,000. If Congress were to change the tax laws to give TRS retirees the pretax befit of most employees, the retiree in the previous example would only have to pay taxes on $30,500 of their pension, rather than on the entire $35,000. This would be a nice bit of relief for most retirees.
5. You may be aware that Medicare has frozen their premiums the past two years because social security recipients did not receive a cost of living adjustment. Guess who did get an increase in their medicare premiums. Well, yours truly for one. When I called Medicare to inquire about my increase I was told that Congress only exempted Social Security recipients. I explained that in Texas teachers did not have a social security option and not only did we miss a cost of living adjustment in 2010, like social security recipients, but Texas teacher retirees had not had a cost of living adjustment since 2001! After some weak attempt at sympathy I was told that nothing could be done because Congess' action only dealt with Social security; so my medicare premiums are now$110 rather than $ 96. So we are basically punished for not being part of a system we were not allowed to join.
6. In a future blog I will suggest some strategies I believe will help reach some of these goals.
Your Turn.
Please give your thoughts on the goals mentioned. Which of the goals do you consider most important ?Are there other goals you think we should push for that were not mentioned?
How To Comment:
Just scroll to the bottom of this page; click on comments and a box will open for your comments. Thanks in advance for your participation.
This obviously reflects poorly on the legislatures' sense of equity and openness. Perhaps the old joke is true that" no man's life or property is safe as long as the Texas Legislature is in session". Should something be done to correct this accumulative abuse of power? Absolutely! Would this make us feel better? Probably! However this would do little to improve the problems of retired teachers in areas where laws could ameliorate those problems. Instead we need to insure we have clear goals , and strategies to reach those goals, in order to persuade the public and the legislature to favor our cause.
Goals
1. Cost of Living Adjustment. As most of us are well aware retired Texas Teachers have not received a cost of living adjustment since 2001. Although, fortunately, the inflation rate has been low the past couple of years, the inflation rate has still averaged three% for the decade, meaning a teacher who retired in 2001 with an annuity of $ 30,000 now has the equivalency of $20,000 in spending power. Ten more years without a COLA and the same inflation rate would leave the same retiree with $ 10,000 in spending power. I, therefore, believe that a COLA is the most pressing problem facing retirees. However there are others that the legislature needs to adjust such as:
2. TRS Care. The TRS Care program for retirees is currently serving 212,000 retirees, their spouses and their beneficiaries. Unfortunately the program is funded on a pay as you go basis meaning each session of the legislature must declare the funding is available for the next biennium. The fund is currently due to run out of funds by 2014. Some form of permanent funding must be created quickly. These two problems must be addressed at the state level but some others must be addressed at the national level, such as:
3. WEP and the Offset The U.S. Congress passed two laws referred to by the acronyms WEP and the offset. One of these laws limits the amount of Social Security a TRS retiree can draw by up to two-thirds, while the other prevents the spouse of the retiree from drawing any of his/her social security.
4. Paying TRS Care premium pretax. One of the benefits enjoyed by many workers including those still employed by school districts is the premiums for health care are paid pretax ; a benefit not currently enjoyed by TRS annuitants. To illustrate, a current TRS retiree might be receiving a pension of $35,000 and paying $4,500 a month in TRS Care premiums. Under current laws the TRS annuitant must pay taxes on all $35,000. If Congress were to change the tax laws to give TRS retirees the pretax befit of most employees, the retiree in the previous example would only have to pay taxes on $30,500 of their pension, rather than on the entire $35,000. This would be a nice bit of relief for most retirees.
5. You may be aware that Medicare has frozen their premiums the past two years because social security recipients did not receive a cost of living adjustment. Guess who did get an increase in their medicare premiums. Well, yours truly for one. When I called Medicare to inquire about my increase I was told that Congress only exempted Social Security recipients. I explained that in Texas teachers did not have a social security option and not only did we miss a cost of living adjustment in 2010, like social security recipients, but Texas teacher retirees had not had a cost of living adjustment since 2001! After some weak attempt at sympathy I was told that nothing could be done because Congess' action only dealt with Social security; so my medicare premiums are now$110 rather than $ 96. So we are basically punished for not being part of a system we were not allowed to join.
6. In a future blog I will suggest some strategies I believe will help reach some of these goals.
Your Turn.
Please give your thoughts on the goals mentioned. Which of the goals do you consider most important ?Are there other goals you think we should push for that were not mentioned?
How To Comment:
Just scroll to the bottom of this page; click on comments and a box will open for your comments. Thanks in advance for your participation.
the best place to start is by visiting the TRS website. 
as you could choose to sleep over night in a rattlesnake den but neither would be a wise choice! If you are a “seasoned” citizen and have reached the age of 65 you will need to apply for Medicare. If you are eligible or receiving social security, Medicare will contact you; however if you are only with TRS you will need to contact Medicare at least three months before you turn 65 to sign up. If you are retiring before 65 you will probably want to sign up for the health insurance option for retired teachers: TRS Care. You can also sign up your spouse for TRS Care if she is no longer working. TRS Care has two options with different deductibles and premiums; make certain you reflect carefully on these options as TRS will not allow changes When you turn 65 ,TRS Care will become your secondary policy and will pay most of what Medicare does not pay. Also if your spouse is still working you could find out the cost of the coverage for you and compare this to your Medicare and TRS Care options.
can work in a public school or college to 50 percent of what is considered full time for that month. For example in the 
, a retiree may teach for a half day or two weeks of a month. Adjunct professors at a community college could teach two classes in the spring and fall semester since five classes are considered a full load and one semester in the summer since two classes are considered a full load. So what happens if you exceed this limit? You will receive a nice little letters from TRS saying you must return your annuity for that month; I know because I once received one of those “ nice little letters”. There is no limit on the amount a retiree can work in a private school and no limit on substituting, except your desire to go fishing that day.
or keeping your investment with your districts plan. If the thought of investing is about as appealing as translating ancient hieroglyphics ,you might want to consider finding a financial advisor or better yet educating yourself. Allow me to make one suggestion: there is a wonderful website called 
and Washington. You will also be able to avail yourself of many discounts such as dental insurance and you will have an opportunity to meet a lot of nice folks in your local chapter.
, which is under 5 dollars and will add up your number of steps each day. Take 9,000 steps and you’ll have those numbers heading in the direction you want.
your money wisely is another necessity for financial health. Let me repeat again I am most assuredly no financial advisor but I do have a suggestion. Learn as much as you can about investing even if you later decide to hire a financial advisor. I have a further unsolicited piece of advise ; my greatest teacher on investing is a website called http://www.bogleheads.org ,a group of successful investors who follow the philosophy of the founder of Vanguard, John Bogle. That philosophy includes asset allocation investing in low cost index funds and avoiding attempts to beat the market. Visit the site, read for yourself and I think you’ll find yourself much better informed even if you don’t accept the 
advice on the best route to reach financial health.
, the ability to understand our emotions ( Am I feeling gluttonous or do I really need that second piece of cheesecake) and managing those emotions so they help us meet our goals whether physical, financial or mental health.
. Many of us find that meaning best through religion, but there are other ways of reaching spiritual health including volunteering in such activities as Habitat For Humanity or Wounded Warriors, or some passionate hobby whether gardening or golf , or best a combination of all these.
will give retired teachers back the tax loss are slim and none and slim just left town, the TRTA suggestion is undoubtedly still worthwhile just to plant in our Congressman’s mind the problems we face as Texas retired teachers ,especially with no cost of living adjustment . I do have one other suggestion though, and that is we ask our Congressman to vote to pass the proposed legislation that would tax us only on the income after our 
is deducted. In other words if a retiree has an annuity of 3000 dollars a month and pays 300 dollars a month in TRS premiums the retiree would be taxed each month on 2700 dollars rather than the full $3000. This would at least offset the new tax increase. I have more discussion of this in my earlier blog The Texas Legislature And TRS Hold That Line.
is shorter than usual today, mercifully so some might say. LOL! I would be greatly pleased to hear from you on the following and anything else you would like to comment on
who, signed the Medicare bill into law in 1965 ,was a 
and a former Texas teacher. Another bit of historical info is that the first Medicare card was given to former president Harry Truman who was present at the signing ceremony and had been a committed supporter of the idea of health insurance for the elderly. The purpose of Medicare was to provide health insurance to the elderly( senior citizens was not yet widely used ,so we were still just ‘‘the elderly”) Most retired Texas teachers will, at least at some point in their lives, be a beneficiary of Medicare; so the purpose of today’s bog is to look at some questions tra retirees might have about Medicare and it’s relationship to TRS Care, and hopefully provide some answers.
e and though paid for by Medicare is administered by private insurance companies , usually as HMO’S or PPO’S. Medicare Part D IS The Medicare prescription plan enacted in the 2003 Medicare Reform Act. This program is again paid for by Medicare but administered by private companies. TRS Care already has a prescription drug program administered by Caremark and advises their retirees on Medicare that they are usually better off staying with the TRS prescription drug plan. 
when she became eligible would find TRS assumed Medicare had paid 80 percent and would pay only $8000 leaving the retiree to pay the other $32,000!
wrote a book called There’s’ No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. This is certainly true of Medicare. Start off with the fact that Medicare will pay only 80 percent of your total medical bill. In addition Medicare has premiums ; most Medicare recipients will not pay a premium for part A because they have paid into the system for their 40 quarters, but the premium for part B is currently $110.50. Medicare part A has a deductible of $1,100
policy.
, I’ll spend today’s blog relating some thoughts on the pros and cons of retiring abroad.
television series. Knowing the facts is essential if you are going to make a wise choice on whether to retire abroad and where to retire if you decide to do so. Fortunately the internet gives today’s researcher an incalculable resource for investigating retiring abroad. Of course not all information is equally valuable or accurate, so as always on the internet, remember “caveat emptor”. However, I will mention some of the sites I have found to be most credible.
I will mention a couple of websites and forums that are Philippines specific, but provide insight about expatriate life that can be generalized for other countries, especially developing countries. The first such site is http://www.liveinthephilippines.com. This is a web magazine run by an American who lives in Mindanao in the Philippines and is well organized and balanced. A second Philippine oriented site is http://www.livinginthephilippines.com. This was not a misprint, the only difference in the domain title of the two sites is the ing. This is the oldest of the sites and gives useful information, though occasionally views life in the tropics through rose colored lens.
. There are some countries where a person can retire on a social security, or a military pension alone and not work at all , at least for a salary. These countries are usually in the developing world and three countries that are often mentioned are Panama , the Philippines and 
. I know some Americans who are living in the Philippines or Thailand with their families for as little as 1,200 U.S. dollars. My own opinion is that if you live in the provinces or small towns you could probably do fine on 2000 U.S. dollars, but if you lived in the cities such as Manila, Bangkok, or 
you would need about 2,500 U.S. dollars. This would also depend on lifestyle choices such as how many American foods do you feel you couldn’t live without ( they are more expensive because they have to by imported) and how often you feel the need to travel back to the U,S, to visit family and friends. Airfare from a Pacific area country could cost as much as 1,200 U.S. dollars while flying from Mexico or Panama City would of course be much less expensive.
profession have heard that old cheer, which basically means to keep your loss of yardage to a minimum. Given the current financial turmoil in the state budget, maybe “hold that line” should become our lead cheer. Let me explain.
