Savings and Retirement Benefits

Transcription

1 60 Baltimore Couty Public Schools offers you several ways to begi savig moey through payroll deductios. Defied Beefit Pesio Pla Tax Sheltered Auities ad Custodial Accouts Defied Beefit Pesio Pla Did you kow that the average perso eeds to replace 60% to 80% of his fial icome i order to afford retiremet? Whe it comes to retiremet plaig, it s ever too soo to start. Your retiremet icome will come from more tha oe source. However, the pricipal sources of icome whe you retire are persoal savigs, Social Security, ad your pesio from oe of the systems i which Baltimore Couty Public Schools participates. It is importat to uderstad which retiremet pla you are eligible for, how to eroll, ad the beefits your pla will provide at retiremet. Which Retiremet Pla am I Eligible For? Depedig o your job classificatio ad the date you were employed, you may be eligible for oe of three retiremet programs listed below: If you are eligible for the Baltimore Couty Employees Retiremet System (ERS) ad you did ot joi whe you were first employed, remember that you may oly eroll withi sixty days of your employmet. Employees who waive membership i the ERS will be ieligible to participate i retiree life ad health isurace programs. I order to be eligible to apply for a disability retiremet as a member of the Baltimore Couty Employees Retiremet System, you must be i positive pay status at the time of applicatio. Cotact ERS for more iformatio. Marylad State Teachers Retiremet System Must have erolled prior to 1980 as a public school educator, admiistrator, or clerical employee. Marylad State Teachers Pesio System Automatic membership after 1980 for eligible employees as defied by Code of Marylad Regulatios (COMAR). Baltimore Couty Employees Retiremet System (ERS) Employees i job classificatios ieligible for the State Teacher s pesio system are eligible for ERS. Participatio is volutary, subject to the 60 day erollmet widow. Eligibility provisio To lear more about eligibility for these plas ad the specific beefits provided ad erollmet procedures, please call the Office of Beefits, Leaves ad Retiremet at ( ) for ay questios related to State beefits. For BCERS, please call Baltimore Couty Public Schools Beefits Erollmet & Referece Guide

2 61 (cotiued) 403(b), 403(b)(7), ad 457(b) Plas Tax-Deferred Auity Plas ad Custodial Accouts You may save for retiremet ad reduce your curret taxes by participatig i a Tax-Deferred Auity Pla or Custodial Accout ad/or a Deferral Compesatio Pla. Sectios 403(b), 403(b)(7) ad 457(b) of the Iteral Reveue Code authorize a tax-deferred retiremet savigs program for employees of public schools. The accout shelters your moey from taxes i two ways: Pre-tax ivestig Ivestmets are made through the coveiece of automatic payroll deductios before federal ad state taxes are calculated o your icome. FICA tax is also withheld ad this lowers your curret taxable icome. Tax-deferred compoudig Your cotributios ad ivestmet earigs accumulate tax-free while i your 403(b) accout. You pay taxes oly whe you withdraw the moey. Your savigs i these accouts are geerally ot available util age uless you have a fiacial hardship, as defied by the IRS. If you meet the hardship requiremets, you may be able to borrow or withdraw moey from your accout before Note: Distributios from a 457(b) pla are ot subject to the 10% early withdrawal pealty that applies to the 403(b) ad 403(b)(7) plas. You may choose from two mai categories of ivestmet choices. Oe is referred to as a auity ad the other is called a ivestmet. There are some differeces betwee these two types of ivestmets that you should uderstad whe evaluatig your optios. Be sure to ask these questios whe speakig with the compay represetatives: What are the fees ad charges for this ivestmet? What has bee the fud s ivestmet retur, mius expeses, for the past year, 3 years, 5 years ad the life of the fud? Are there ay loa provisios? Hardship withdrawals? Are there ay surreder charges? Are there ay fiacial guaratees regardig this ivestmet? What happes to the moey whe I die? If you would like more iformatio about participatig i oe of these plas, call the Office of Beefits, Leaves ad Retiremet at (410) to obtai a copy of the booklet etitled Cosider the Beefits! You may also go to the Beefits Web site at ad click o Cosider the Beefits. Key Poits: All employees are eligible to participate i the 403(b)/(b)(7) pla while all employees may participate i the 457(b) pla. There is o waitig period to begi savig i a pla. You may eroll or diseroll at ay time. Participatio is 100% volutary. Baltimore Couty Public Schools does ot cotribute to your accout. Deductios are take from 24 paychecks per caledar year for 12-moth employees ad from 20 paychecks per caledar year for 10-moth employees. You decide how to ivest your cotributios ad how much of your salary to ivest. IRS regulatios permit you to set aside up to $17,500 for caledar year A additioal cotributio ca be made if you are age 50 or older by the ed of the caledar year. Cotact your approved vedor to assist you i determiig your persoal aual maximum. You may obtai the curret listig of authorized providers or other iformatio o the web at: beefits. There are curretly five 403(b)/ ( b)(7) providers. Natiowide is the oly 457(b) provider. Baltimore Couty Public Schools Beefits Erollmet & Referece Guide

3 62 Retiree Isurace Beefits Your retiree isurace beefits are provided by Baltimore Couty Public Schools regardless of the retiremet pla from which you are receivig your pesio. Please ote that the isurace beefits ad the Board s cotributio percetages as show o the followig page are subject to chage i the future depedig upo the agreemets reached by the Board, its bargaiig uits, ad its fudig authorities. While you may be vested i your pesio pla, your ability to participate i the retiremet isurace plas of BCPS may be limited. I order to be eligible to participate i retiree beefits ow or i the future, you must begi to receive a mothly pesio directly followig active employmet with Baltimore Couty Public Schools. A employee who does ot qualify to receive a pesio curretly or who elects to defer pesio beefits is ieligible for future participatio i the Board s beefit plas. Erollig i Your Retiree Isurace Members of the Marylad State Teacher s Retiremet or Pesio System may cotact the Office of Beefits, Leaves ad Retiremet to schedule a retiremet coferece. Members of the Baltimore Couty Employees Retiremet System should cotact the BCERS to schedule a retiremet coferece. Prior to retiremet, you must complete a resigatio form ad submit to your supervisor, otify the Office of Huma Resources ad your pesio system of your itetio to retire. The Office of Beefits, Leaves ad Retiremet will be otified of your retiremet directly from the Office of Huma Resources. At that time, the Office of Beefits, Leaves ad Retiremet will sed the appropriate retiree beefits electio forms to you. These forms must be completed ad retured to the Office of Beefits, Leaves ad Retiremet. Upo retiremet, you are ot required to eroll i a health isurace pla of Baltimore Couty Public Schools i order to preserve your right to eroll at a later date. As a retirig employee of Baltimore Couty Public Schools, you may eroll i a health pla ad/or chage your erollmet selectio i the future. Retiree Health Isurace The cost of your health isurace is paid by you ad Baltimore Couty Public Schools. The Board cotributes a specified percetage of the total cost of your health isurace based upo your years of service to BCPS ad the specific health isurace pla i which you ad your depedets, if applicable, choose to eroll. It is importat to ote that for purposes of calculatig the Board s cotributio, oly years of service to Baltimore Couty Public Schools ad military service are credited. Time o upaid leaves of absece is ot credited. No distictio is made betwee part-time ad full-time service. Health isurace premiums are deducted from a retiree s mothly pesio check. Normally, retiremets occur at the ed of a school year ad employees have already paid premiums for coverage through August 31. Therefore, if a employee retires o July 1, the first health isurace premium deductio will be take from the September pesio check. Special hadlig is required for retirig idividuals ad/or their spouses who are age 65 or will reach 65 before September. The same plas available to active employees are available to retiree s who are ieligible for Medicare. Upo reachig eligibility for Medicare (usually at age 65 or if eligible due to disability) retiree s ad/or their spouses must eroll i Medicare Parts A & B i order to cotiue participatio i the Board s health isurace plas, ad they must the eroll i a differet health pla which coordiates with Medicare. Please ote that each of the medical plas offered by Baltimore Couty Public Schools icludes coverage for prescriptio drugs. Visio ad Detal Coverage Visio ad detal coverage may be cotiued ito retiremet. The cost for both plas, if elected, will be deducted from your pesio check. Life Isurace If elected, the cost of life isurace is paid etirely by the retiree. Premiums are deducted from your pesio check. Upo retiremet, a retiree s life isurace coverage reduces to o more tha $50,000, icludig the $15,000 of basic isurace ad up to $35,000 of optioal coverage. The amout of isurace reduces through the fourth aiversary of your retiremet. Note: Please refer to the summary of beefits o the followig page. To obtai a copy of the Retiree Beefits Guide, call the Office of Beefits, Leaves ad Retiremet or visit our Web site. Baltimore Couty Public Schools Beefits Erollmet & Referece Guide

4 63 (cotiued) Plas Retiree Beefits Additioal Details No-Medicare (< 65) Ciga OAPIN Ciga OAP Kaiser Permaete HMO Medicare Eligible Ciga Medicare Surroud (Part A & B) Pla Kaiser Permaete- Medicare Plus HMO Survivig Spouse s Beefit Cacer Isurace BCPS cotributes toward health care premiums for employees with 10 or more years of service who are approved for retiremet from the Marylad State Retiremet ad Pesio Systems, or the Baltimore Couty Employees Retiremet System. Additioal credit may be give for military service. Board cotributios are: Years of Service to BCPS* Ciga Medicare Surroud Kaiser Med Plus yrs. 36% 68% yrs. 66% 100% 30yrs. & up 84% 100% * For ew hires after Jauary 1, 2011, Board of Educatio cotributios for retiree beefits have chaged. Please cotact the Office of Beefits, Leaves ad Retiremet for more iformatio at Upo eligibility for Medicare (usually at age 65 or if eligible due to disability), retiree s ad/or their Medicare-eligible depedets are eligible to covert to coverage which supplemets Medicare. Upo retiree s death, if the spouse has bee covered uder a BCPS health care pla, he or she will have the optio to cotiue coverage. The Board pays the cotributio i effect for oe year after the retiree s death. After oe year, coverage may cotiue without ay Board cotributio uless the spouse has bee a employee of BCPS. The Board cotributio for premiums show above would cotiue as log as the survivig spouse elects to cotiue coverage. If you had cacer isurace as a active employee, you may elect to cotiue this coverage as a retiree. Cotiuatio of Isurace After Retiremet If you retire o July 1, health isurace remais i effect util August 31. Deductios begi with the September pesio check from the applicable retiremet system. Oce you become etitled to Medicare Part B, you may elect to choose Medicare as your primary payor ad elect ot to participate i the group pla. For retirees ot medicare eligible (<65), please review the retiree beefit guide for premium costs. Billed quarterly by BCPS Deducted mothly from pesio i combiatio with health isurace. Detal Isurace ad Visio Care Retirees may elect to cotiue to participate i the detal plas or visio pla offered to active employees. Retirees pay the COBRA rates for detal ad 100% of the cost for visio. Life Isurace Retirees pay the cost of life isurace. The $15,000 basic life isurace will cotiue with o reductio i value. However, a reductio schedule applies to optioal life isurace. Persoal Accidet Isurace Retirees may elect to covert to a idividual policy withi 31 days of termiatio by callig Prudetial. The cost is paid etirely by the retiree. Deducted mothly from pesio i combiatio with health isurace. Deducted mothly from pesio i combiatio with health isurace. Billed by Prudetial Baltimore Couty Public Schools Beefits Erollmet & Referece Guide

5 64 What is Creditable Coverage? Begiig Jauary 1, 2006, Medicare beeficiaries will have the opportuity to receive subsidized prescriptio drug coverage through the ew Medicare Part D program. Beeficiaries who choose ot to sig up at the first opportuity may have to pay more if they wait to eter the program later after the ope erollmet period. Beeficiaries who have other sources of drug coverage through a curret or former employer or uio, may stay i that pla ad choose ot to eroll i the Medicare drug pla. If their other coverage is at least as good as the ew Medicare drug beefit, it is cosidered creditable coverage, the the beeficiary ca cotiue to get the high quality care they have ow as well as avoid higher paymets if they sig up for the Medicare drug beefit. Uder Sectio (a) of the fial regulatio, coverage is creditable if the actuarial value of the coverage equals or exceeds the actuarial value of stadard prescriptio drug coverage uder Medicare Part D, as demostrated through the use of geerally accepted actuarial priciples ad i accordace with CMS actuarial guidelies. I geeral, the actuarial equivalece test measures whether the expected amout of paid claims uder the etity s prescriptio drug coverage is at least as much as the expected amout of paid claims uder the stadard Part D beefit. Required Disclosures to Medicare Beeficiaries Baltimore Couty Public Schools must provide a otice of creditable prescriptio drug coverage to Medicare beeficiaries who are covered by, or who apply for, prescriptio drug coverage uder ay of the Baltimore Couty Public Schools plas. For a copy of this otice, please visit our Web site at: www. bcps.org/offices/beefits/beefits_erollmet/ or www. bcps.org/offices/beefits/retiree_be/. Baltimore Couty Public Schools Beefits Erollmet & Referece Guide