I am a teaching assistant and my recent TRS Benefit Profile shows less years of credited service than I have served.  How could this be?  There could be 2 reasons for this.  The first is that you might have been a part-time employee when you started in the district and part-time years of employment convert to only parts of years of service toward retirement.  The second reason is that perhaps you are one of many TA’s who did not join TRS when you started working in the district.  Your first few years have not been credited toward your years of service for retirement.  You can buy back those years.  Contact TRS to determine the cost to purchase the additional years of service credit.

My most recent credit history from the Personnel Department showed a 3 credit course from the fall as a 1.5 credit course.  How can I get this corrected?  There is no need to correct it.  Courses from the fall are listed at  of their value for salary purposes for the second half of the year.  Just be sure to check this fall’s credit history to see that the remaining 1.5 credits are listed for a total of 3.

Will all of my compensation be eligible for determining my Final Average Salary?  In most cases, most, if not all of your compensation will be included in your FAS.  However, there are some items of pay that are not allowed.  One of them is payment received in lieu of health insurance.  This can only be included by some Tier 1 members who are able to use a 5-year FAS.  In addition, pay for duties not reasonably incidental to that of full-time teacher or administrator (e.g., monitor, bus driver, district clerk, clerk of the board, school attorney) are not eligible for inclusion in your FAS.  Contact a TRS representative if you have concerns regarding the eligibility of some of your compensation.