Important notice for new faculty
(and faculty members who just achieved tenure)
According to law, all new faculty members have one year from the time they begin employment to choose between the Individual Retirement Account Plan (IRAP) and the Teachers Retirement Association (TRA) as their basic pension plan. If you don’t choose a plan, you will default into the IRAP plan. As a result of legislation that IFO got passed two years ago, faculty who achieve tenure get a second one year opportunity to switch from IRAP to TRA, however, for all other new faculty this is a one-time, irrevocable election (or default) and you will not be allowed to change plans as long as you work for a MnSCU institution.
This is a very important decision—your choice will affect the contributions to your account, your take-home pay, the portability of your benefits if you change jobs, and your retirement income. The plan you choose can affect your retirement income by thousands of dollars in the short term, and hundreds of thousands of dollars over a career.
The Inter Faculty Organization (IFO) encourages you to make this complex, important decision carefully.
On Tuesday, September 6th, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in CMU 203, Russ Stanton, IFO Director of Government Relations, will put on a workshop for new faculty members. The workshop will cover:
- A feature-by-feature comparison of IRAP and TRA, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each plan. This comparison is designed to help new faculty members and faculty receiving tenure to choose the plan that best fits their career pattern.
- An explanation of the various components of MnSCU’s retirement plans, including Social Security and Medicare, the basic pension plans (IRAP and TRA), the College Supplemental Retirement Plan, Tax Sheltered Annuities (including the new Roth TSA), the State Deferred Compensation Plan, and the tax-free healthcare savings plans.
- The legislation allowing faculty a second option to switch to TRA upon achieving tenure.
- New investment options under the IRAP and Supplemental Retirement plans.
The workshops are free. The Inter Faculty Organization is the union for that faculty at Minnesota’s seven state universities, and provides these workshops as a service to the faculty.
The IFO does not sell, endorse, or receive fees from the sale of any retirement products or services. The IFO’s goal is to provide objective information that is useful to members.
If you would like to schedule a half-hour meeting with Russ Stanton to discuss your particular retirement related concerns, you can email the Faculty Association office at faoffice@mnstate.edu to schedule a half-hour appointment.
Visit Schedule:
Tuesday, September 6, 2011: General workshop for faculty members nearing retirement from 8 to 9 a. m. in CMU 203. Individual ½-hour appointments will be at room CMU 208 from 9 a. m. to 1 p. m. General workshop for new faculty or newly tenured faculty from 1:30 to 2:30 p. m. in CMU 203. Individual ½-hour appointments again from 2:30 to 5:30 p. m. in CMU 208.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011: Individual ½-hour appointments from 8 a. m. to 1 p. m. in CMU 204. General workshop for faculty nearing retirement from 1:30 to 2:30 p. m. in CMU 203.
E-mail the faculty association office, faoffice@mnstate.edu, if you wish to schedule an individual ½ hour appointment with Russ Stanton. The general workshops do not require an appointment.