Pension Sense Blog
Pension Sense
The Pension Sense blog offers helpful information on member benefits, the investment portfolio, corporate engagement activities and more. Ideas for future posts? Please send us an email at Newsroom@CalSTRS.com. We regularly publish new content.
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Track your journey with your Retirement Progress Report
Life changes constantly, whether it’s at home, within your circle of friends, or in your career.
At CalSTRS, we want to be a source of long-term stability for your personal journey.
Your annual Retirement Progress Report, which was updated in September and is available now via myCalSTRS, is a personalized overview of your CalSTRS account and benefits, including detailed information and resources for planning your financial future.
Rules for California educators working after retirement
Retirement is changing rapidly around the world. The norm of winding down a career at age 65 is no longer so normal, and for many, retirement doesn’t mean a permanent departure from your craft.
As a CalSTRS member, you can take a job outside the California public school system any time after retirement with no penalty toward your pension payments. This includes teaching for private schools, public schools outside of California, and the California State University and University of California systems.
Introducing individual Zoom sessions for CalSTRS members
At CalSTRS, we want to do more than meet your basic retirement planning needs. We want to talk to you face to face, even as we wait a little bit longer to reopen our offices.
That’s why we’re now offering individual benefits planning sessions via Zoom. These sessions provide face-to-face support and can assist you in making informed decisions about your retirement.
Investment returns help pay your pension
2020 was a bear of a year. But it came with a bull of a market.
On July 26, 2021, we announced the CalSTRS Investment Portfolio earned 27.2% over the 12-month period ending June 30, 2021, which is well above the 7% assumed rate of return. This news was “nothing short of spectacular,” Chief Investment Officer Christopher J. Ailman said of the performance of the $308.6 billion portfolio we manage on your behalf as a CalSTRS member.
You may be asking yourself, why is this important to me?
Protecting your pensions: Why CalSTRS’ votes matter
Sometimes extraordinary things happen in the most ordinary places.
A company boardroom, for example, is typically the setting for corporate execs to create strategies, set goals, and review day-to-day business operations. It’s business as usual. This also holds true for publicly traded companies, where the board of directors meet once a year with their shareholders (the company’s owners) to review the business. Normally, the actions at these meetings create little fanfare and few front-page headlines. But this past fiscal year was anything but normal.
How you can stay in touch with CalSTRS on social media
While you’re wishing your college roommate happy birthday on Facebook, sharing a new recipe on Pinterest or liking photos of your cousins on Instagram, drop by and say hi to CalSTRS.
Happy Earth Day from CalSTRS
Happy Earth Day from all of us at CalSTRS.
We take seriously our responsibility to be good stewards of the earth while we secure the financial future of California’s educators. When CalSTRS makes the promise of a secure retirement to a new educator, we’re also thinking about how climate change will impact our environment by the time they retire.
Manage your tax options with myCalSTRS
Tax season is here and the filing deadline is approaching.
While it’s too late to make adjustments for your 2020 taxable income, it’s a good time to get a head start for 2021.
CalSTRS releases data on member retirement preparedness in Sustainability Report
Earlier this month, CalSTRS released its seventh Sustainability Report covering the 2019-20 fiscal year. This report is prepared in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative Standards, the global best practices for corporate sustainability reporting.
Spring into retirement with CalSTRS
As an educator, you already have enough on your mind in the springtime.
Winding down the school year. Preparing your taxes. Spring cleaning.
Whether you’re planning to retire this year, in the near future, or decades from now, you can cross one thing off your seasonal to-do list early.
Are you a part-time educator? Here are three things you should know about Cash Balance
If you’re a part-time, substitute or temporary teacher, you may be eligible to participate in CalSTRS Cash Balance Benefit Program.
To be eligible for Cash Balance, your employer must offer both CalSTRS Defined Benefit Program and Cash Balance Benefit Program, and you must be employed less than full time. For a K-12 district, your time base must be less than half time. For a community college district, you can be eligible if you are hired on a temporary basis, including being hired for not more than 67% of a full-time position. Cash Balance may be offered exclusively or along with other retirement programs such as Social Security.
Understanding the increase in teacher retirements
CalSTRS recently noticed a significant increase in teacher retirements. In the second half of 2020, the number of retirements (3,202) increased 26% over the same period in 2019.
We reached out to most of those members who retired and posed two questions. This is a new survey and the questions were sent to members during the current fiscal year:
- Did you decide to retire earlier than planned?
- If so, what contributed to your decision to retire earlier than planned?
Need a resolution for 2021? Make retirement planning a priority
As your retirement plan, CalSTRS is dedicated to securing your financial future and helping you get there. The start of a new year provides an opportunity to check on your retirement planning and set achievable goals for the future.
Virtual events keep CalSTRS connected with members
CalSTRS is committed to staying connected with you in the new year, with ongoing webinars and retirement educational sessions in both individual and small group formats.
Trust CalSTRS for accurate information about your retirement account
Happy new year! If one of your resolutions is to get your financial house in order, make sure you discuss your defined benefit pension and 403(b)/457(b) savings accounts with your most trusted source – CalSTRS.
Explore your investment options with CalSTRS Pension2®
CalSTRS Pension2 offers the opportunity for CalSTRS members to build supplemental retirement savings through low cost, flexible 403(b), Roth 403(b), 457(b) and Roth 457(b) plans. Pension2 complements your CalSTRS retirement benefit and provides additional security for you in retirement.
Benefits, service credit available for CalSTRS member veterans
This Veterans Day, we’ll be thinking of our CalSTRS members who have served in the past and those still active in the reserves.
Returning veterans and current reservists have a right to receive pension credit and benefits through the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). These members can opt to pay back their retirement contributions in order to count the time they were away toward their pensions, as long as they return to the same employer.
Four ways to celebrate National Retirement Security Week
Help us celebrate National Retirement Security Week by checking in on your retirement savings goals. It falls on October 18–October 24 this year, and we want to share with you a few helpful tips on how to prepare for your future retirement today.
Check your updated Retirement Progress Report on myCalSTRS
Whether you’re a new educator or in the homestretch of your teaching career, it’s a great time to review your Retirement Progress Report.
The Retirement Progress Report is an annual personalized overview of your CalSTRS account and benefits, including detailed information and resources for planning your financial future.
CalSTRS releases updated reports in mid-September, which are available online using your myCalSTRS account.
Longtime educator connects with migrant students, families through pandemic
In honor of Latino Heritage Month, we checked in with CalSTRS member Joe I. Mendoza.
When we talked to Mendoza for Teacher Talk earlier this year, he was enjoying working at the Ventura County Office of Education after 63 years as an educator. And he still is today, months into the pandemic.