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Employees' Retirement System benefits SRPs
Jan. 19, 2006 Members of NYSUT's ERS Consultants Committee meet yearly to get pension updates they can bring back to members of the Employees' Retirement System. From left, Arlene Hanley; NYSUT staffer Margaret MacCartney; Glenn Lucas; Sheila Salenger, a teacher-member on the TRS board; Joan White; and Mary Warren. In this periodic column, Comptroller Alan Hevesi, the sole trustee of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System, will provide information on the system that serves non-instructional school district employees, including many NYSUT School-Related Professionals. If you are an ERS member with a question, send it to nyteach@nysutmail.org. Through its Employees' Retirement System, the New York State and Local Retirement System provides retirement benefits to more than 125,000 non-instructional school district employees, including many of New York State United Teachers' School-Related Professionals. We are the second largest public pension system in the country, with nearly 1 million members and beneficiaries in our system. Each year, we pay out more than $5 billion in benefits to more than 330,000 people. One of our primary goals is to make it as easy as possible for members to understand their benefits so all receive the maximum benefit they are entitled to. This column is the first of several that will appear in the coming months to explain how you can make the most out of your retirement benefits. We are pleased to work with NYSUT to provide valuable information to our members about this important issue. We'll be providing information on such topics as maximizing benefits, working after retirement, transferring credits from other plans and credit for military service. Retirement is one of the most important — and probably one of the most complicated — decisions you will make during your career. Our goal is to provide you with as much information as possible and to make this information easy to understand. One way we do this is through our Web site at www.osc.state.ny.us. There you can find:
Of course, there is no substitute for human contact and one-on-one service, and providing high quality personalized service to members is a top priority. Our highly trained retirement specialists can provide individual consultations in person or by phone. Although especially important for those nearing retirement, these consultations can help any members looking to learn more about their benefits. Locations and hours of our consultation sites can also be found on our Web site. We welcome all members to explore the options the retirement system offers and encourage your feedback to help make services even better in the future. |
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