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ASRS Retirement Prep Meetings: What Information is Covered?

If you find yourself getting close to retirement but have a lot of questions, don’t worry – you’re just like most members! In fact, we developed our series of retirement meetings specifically to answers all of the most common questions people have while on the road to retirement. Our “Route 3” and “Route 4” meetings are specifically aimed at those who may be at the end of their career. But how do you know which meeting is right for you?

ASRS Member Tool Kit: A New Web Page

The ASRS website has many helpful resources to assist members on their road to retirement. To help streamline the member experience, we’ve created the one-page Member Tool Kit. The Member Tool Kit puts all of our digital tools, such as calculators and estimators into one place, and organizes them into Member Resources or Retirement Planning tools.

Annuity Options: How Do You Want Your Retirement Benefit?

With seven ASRS annuity options available to you, how do you decide which one is right for you? Narrowing the choices down is a good place to start. Ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish financially when you retire. Most members respond in one of three ways:

1. “I want to receive the maximum monthly amount possible and don’t need to worry about providing money for a beneficiary.”

You Submitted Your Retirement Application. Now what?

What happens after you hit “submit” on your retirement application? We input the application information into our system, validate the application for compliance, and place your application in a hold queue (if we require additional information before we can calculate your benefit) or a processing queue (if no further information is needed to proceed). It’s important to keep in mind that while the ASRS may receive your retirement application in advance of your retirement date, we will not be able to begin any retirement calculations until your retirement date has occurred.

Preparing to Retire: Are you ready? Let's find out!

Getting ready to retire is a big step! It means closing one chapter and beginning another. To make sure you’re as prepared and informed as possible before you hit ‘submit’ on your retirement application, make sure you’ve considered the following questions;

New Contribution Rates take effect July 1

ASRS active members and employers will see a slight increase in the total contribution rate they pay in the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1.

What Happens if You’re Unable to Work Due to an Illness or Injury?

If you’re actively contributing to the ASRS, you may not realize your membership includes Long Term Disability (LTD). It’s often overlooked by most active members, since less than 2% of them ever need it. As a result, there are also misconceptions about how the program works.

Retiree Tax Reminders

As a reminder, the new federal tax tables and 2019 retiree insurance premiums will be applied to pension checks in February and may affect your net benefit payments.

My Parent Has an ASRS Account and Needs Help. Now What?

This can be a complex question. If someone you care for – a parent, grandparent, spouse, etc. – has an account with the ASRS, but needs assistance accessing or managing that account, there are avenues you can take to help.

Need-to-Know Information If You're Retiring This Summer

While the ASRS has a diverse group of members, a very large number of those members are school teachers or faculty. That means, among other things, a large number of people retiring at the same time each year; around May and June. We casually refer to it as Retirement Season here within ASRS offices. With approximately 200K-plus active ASRS members, that can mean a fair number of people wanting to retire at roughly the same time. So, what’s the best way to prepare yourself?