Am I required to complete the beneficiary card for the $10,000 Accidental Death Policy provided through the MTA Benefit Fund? No, you are not required to complete the beneficiary card but you should be aware that if your card was not completed and your family members need to make a claim, UNUM Provident will send the payment to your estate, not any individual family member.

I was unable to attend the most recent Will Day.  Do I need to wait until the next Will Day?  There is no need to wait until October 30th.  You can get a Legal Security Package from the MTA Benefit Fund office.  Just complete the form and submit it to the Legal Plan office.  If you need help in completing the form just contact the Legal Fund office at 800-832-5182.

If I don’t use all of my personal days prior to the end of the year do I carry them over to next year?  Yes, your personal days are carried over in September and 3 additional personal days are added to your carry-over amount.  Should this new total exceed 5 days, the days in excess of 5 are transferred over to your personal illness days.

I am expecting my first child and am wondering how to apply for a Child Care Leave.  Teachers who are considering a CCLV should first contact the MTA office and speak with Sheila Esposito.  Each member has unique situations concerning personal health, date of delivery, time for return and the need for carrying health coverage for their family.

(by Gary Day)

Why does the Benefit Fund need to know if a participant for Will Day is from Pennsylvania? The reason for asking is that more documents are involved for wills drawn up for Pennsylvania residents. In turn, more time must be allotted in the day’s schedule for PA residents.

Will NYSUT Member Benefits be endorsing any 403(b) products in the near future? At a recent Member Benefits conference it was stated that as many as three carriers might be endorsed either in late 2008 or early 2009. This announcement will nearly coincide with the effective date of many IRS changes involving Tax Deferred Annuities.

When I retire, how do I remain a NYSUT member so that I can continue to purchase insurance at the group rate through NYSUT Member Benefits? Since the early 90s, NYSUT members retain state and national membership in retirement at no cost. Just be sure to keep the MTA informed of any changes in your address so that you will continue to receive all offers from NYSUT Member Benefits.

NYC teachers no have a 55/25 retirement option. Is NYSUT pushing this same legislation for teachers in the rest of the state? While NYSUT legislative package does contain a resolution to offer a 55/25 retirement option, it is not identical to the NYC option. The 55/25 option that was brokered between the UFT and the NYC BOE calls for all NYC teachers hired after 6/30/08 to contribute an additional 1.85% of salary for their lifetime. It is estimated that this new retirement option will cost future NYC teachers over $40,000 during their careers. It is as if a “Tier 5″ level of benefits has been put into effect in NYC.

Any questions regarding retirement, salary, or the Benefit Fund, may be e-mailed to: questions@middletownteachers.org. All questions will receive a reply; some may appear in future newsletters.

(by Gary Day)

When I retire what happens to the in-service death benefit from TRS? If you are in Tier 1, the benefit ends at the time of your retirement. For almost all members in Tiers 2, 3, & 4 the death benefit extends into your retirement. During the first year of retirement in is 50% of the death benefit in effect at the time of retirement. In year 2 of retirement it is equal to 25% and in the 3rd and ensuing years it is 10% of the benefit at age 60 or at retirement if earlier. This is a good reason to keep your designated beneficiary up to date.

How do I calculate the value of my unused personal illness days when I leave the district? There is a chart for this on page 29 of the contract. Divide your accumulated number of days by your years of service in Middletown to determine the correct column. Then use your years of service to find the appropriate row. The point of intersection is the amount that will be used for each of your days.

I am a Tier 3 member with 29 years of experience at age 55. Must I wait until age 62 to collect my pension? No, you can collect at age 55, but because you are less than age 62 with fewer than 30 years of service you will be penalized. This year you would collect 42.3% of your FAS. Next year, with 30 years of service you could collect 60% of your FAS.

When I select an option at the time of retirement, can I name my child as a beneficiary? You can name a child as a beneficiary, but if you select a survivor option (pop-up or not), your pension will be reduced dramatically as your child’s age will be a factor in the “cost” of selecting the option. The age of a beneficiary has no impact if you select a 5 or 10 year guarantee option.

Any questions regarding retirement, salary, or the Benefit Fund, may be e-mailed to: questions@middletownteachers.org. All questions will receive a reply; some may appear in future newsletters.

(by Gary Day)

I am thinking about taking a leave of absence for the next school year. What union memberships will I retain while on leave? If you go on a leave of absence, you do not remain a member of the MTA. You can however, remain an associate member of NYSUT. That would allow you to maintain any benefits that you currently purchase from NYSUT Member Benefits Trust. You must contact the membership department at NYSUT headquarters to get the associate member enrollment form.
My TRS Profile shows that my in-service death benefit is much greater than 3 times my annual salary. Is the profile correct? It probably is correct if you are a member of Tier 1 and are now eligible to retire without any service credit-related reductions in your pension. The in-service death benefit has been changed into what is called the Death Gamble Benefit. For additional information contact TRS (800-348-7298, Ext. 6110).

I currently purchase my Met Life auto and homeowners insurance from NYSUT Member Benefits via payroll deduction. How will my payments be made if I were to retire this July? If you are going to retire you must contact Member Benefits and they will temporarily change your method of payment from payroll deduction to monthly payment by check. After your pension with TRS is established you will be able to convert your payment method to pension deduction. (Pension deduction is also available for Vote/Cope contributions.)

The local optometrist told my husband that he was not eligible for vision benefits? Why is this so? The vision benefit provided by the MTA Benefit Fund is for individual coverage only. If you desire family coverage you must purchase that from NYSUT Member Benefits.

Any questions regarding retirement, salary, or the Benefit Fund, may be e-mailed to: questions@middletownteachers.org. All questions will receive a reply; some may appear in future newsletters.

Will Day was a wonderful, convenient opportunity to take care of things and the plan attorney was great. Will there be another Will Day soon for me to have the papers notarized or should I just contact the attorney they listed with my documents?  The next Will Day will probably not be held until late May.  If you wish to have your will executed prior to that date you should make an appointment to meet with the attorney listed in the mailing you received.

According to my W-2 form my gross pay in 2007 was less than it was in 2006.  I even received a new longevity this school year.  How can that happen?  It appears that this year is the first time that you have opted for the 26 pay option.  This means that from September through December you deferred over 7.3% of this school year’s salary until the balloon check in June.  This would account for a lower gross salary for you in 2007.

My husband and I are planning on purchasing our first home.  How do I obtain a list of attorneys that are part of the Legal Plan?  Unlike the vision plan, a list of participating attorneys is not provided to the Legal Plan participants.  You must contact the Legal Plan office (800-832-5182) and they will assign an attorney for you to use in your home purchase.  If you find that the attorney who is assigned to you is neither conveniently located nor giving you satisfactory services, contact the Legal Plan office and ask to be reassigned to another attorney.

Any questions regarding retirement, salary, or the Benefit Fund, may be e-mailed to: questions@middletownteachers.org. All questions will receive a reply; some may appear in future newsletters.

As a Tier 4 member of TRS I realize that I need 20 years of service in order to receive 2% per year rather than 1 2/3% per year.  Since I started teaching mid-year do the 20 years need to be 20 full school years?  You are not required to have 20 full school years.  The 20 years of credited service might be fulfilled on the 20th anniversary of your start date, provided you did not have any leaves of absence during that time.

My probationary period will end prior to the end of the school year.  When do I start to receive the tenure increment?  You are eligible to start receiving the tenure increment on the first day that your tenure is effective.  If the effective date is during the school year, the increment will be pro-rated based upon the number of days that remain in the school year.

During 2008 I want to enroll my family in the voluntary family vision plan.  Do I apply for the coverage through the MTA Benefit Fund?  No, the voluntary family vision plan, with an annual premium of $230, is handled by the NYSUT Member Benefits Trust.  You can either download the application from the NYSUT website or call (800-626-8101) and ask to speak with Tammy Ross.

Can teaching assistants be covered by the NYSUT Legal Service Plan?  They can, but not through the Benefit Fund.  TAs and nurses who wish to be covered by the NYSUT plan can enroll in the plan by contacting NYSUT Member Benefits Trust (800-626-8101).  At this time the annual premium is $70.

Any questions regarding retirement, salary, or the Benefit Fund, may be e-mailed to: questions@middletownteachers.org. All questions will receive a reply; some may appear in future newsletters.

My husband and I had our wills drawn up at Will Day on December 6th. Are there plans for another Will Day so that we can meet with the attorneys and get them signed?  There are plans to conduct a second Will Day in May.  However, you should receive your wills in a few weeks and you can get them signed prior to the next Will Day by contacting one of the lawyers that will be listed on the memo attached to your wills.

I need to change my beneficiary with TRS.  How do I go about doing this?  You can download a new beneficiary form through the TRS website (NYSTRS.org).  Keep in mind that you must have your signature notarized and that the completed form should be mailed to TRS.

This is my 11th year in the district but my memorandum still says I am on step 10? Why doesn’t it say step 11?  That’s because our salary schedule only has 10 steps. Once reaching step 10 your future memorandums will remain at step 10. Additional salary is earned through the longevities which are earned at the beginning of years 13, 16, 19, 22, 25 and 28.

I am Tier 3, age 57 with 28 years of service.  If I retire in June, what difference would there be in my pension if the 55/25 legislation was enacted?  The difference is dramatic.  With 55/25 legislation you would receive 56% of your FAS.  Without 55/25 legislation your maximum pension would only be 44.2% of your FAS.  Currently, Tiers 2, 3 & 4 members are subject to penalties if they retire prior to age 62 with less than 30 years of service.

Any questions regarding retirement, salary, or the Benefit Fund, may be e-mailed to: questions@middletownteachers.org. All questions will receive a reply; some may appear in future newsletters.

By Gary Day

I signed an athorization to have a VOTE/COPE contribution deducted from the first check in October. Why is it that the deduction has been taken from every check since then? The deduction was taken only once, On October 10th. What you are seeing on your pay stub is the calendar and fiscal year total for that one-time deduction.

What has recently happened to my personal illness and personal day time on my pay stub? Back in May when the district switched to a new computer system for payroll, sick and personal days started to appear as hours. This required members to divide by 7.25 to determine if the number of days was correctly reported in hours. As a result of a grievance filed by the MTA, the time has been switched back and is now being reported in days.

What is the number I need to call to get a vision voucher? On July 1, 2005 we changed to a voucherless system. Just make your appointment at the provider and they will contact Davis Vision to determine your eligibility.

I will be traveling during one of our vacation times and will need to rent a car. Does the union offer any discounts? Yes, you can get a discount on car rentals from many of the major rental companies. The discount codes are no longer in your NYSUT pocket calendar, but you can get those discount codes by visiting the NYSUT Member Benefits website. You can get there by clicking on the link at the bottom of the left side of the NYSUT.org homepage.

Any questions regarding retirement, salary, or the Benefit Fund, may be e-mailed to: questions@middletownteachers.org. All questions will recieve a reply; some may appear in future newsletters.

I have just started my 13th year of service in Middletown.  When will I start to receive longevity 13?  You should receive longevity 13 during this school year.  Teachers start receiving longevities during the year of service, not after completing the year.

I am a part-time TA.  Am I a member of the retirement system?  As a part-time TA you have the option to join the New York State Teachers Retirement System and qualify to collect a pension when you reach retirement age.  If you do join, you will be required to contribute 3% of your gross salary for no longer than 10 years.  Also, after joining the system and earning 2 years of service credit you can apply for all of your prior years of service.  See your TA rep for a TRS enrollment form.

I am a new teacher with a Masters degree and I am working on a second Masters.  Will I receive 2 Masters stipends after completing my degree requirements?  No, you will only receive the Masters stipend for your first degree.  However, you can receive salary credit for the courses you complete for your second degree as long as you receive prior approval for the coursework and submit transcripts after completing the courses.

During new teacher orientation at the MTA office I know that I signed enrollment forms for the MTA and NYSUT.  When will I be able to join the national teacher union affiliates?  That is already taken care of.  The enrollment forms that you completed have also covered the 2 national affiliates, the AFT and the NEA.

Any questions regarding retirement, salary, or the Benefit Fund, may be e-mailed to: questions@middletownteachers.org. All questions will receive a reply; some may appear in future newsletters.

I hear people talking about a “full pension”.  What does this mean?  Somebody receiving a full pension from TRS is not being subjected to any age or service penalties.  Therefore, they are receiving 100% of what their service credit allows, not 100% of their FAS.

I joined TRS in September 1997.  When will my 3% contributions cease?  The contributions should end this September since at that time you will have been a TRS member for 10 years.  TRS should notify payroll that your 3% contributions should end, but it wouldn’t hurt to contact payroll during the summer alerting them to this fact. (The 3% contributions cease after 10 years due to legislation passed with the help of Vote/Cope.)

I am a part-time TA who worked for a full year but my benefit profile only showed 6 months service credit.  Is this right?  It might be correct as all of your service in a year is converted into full days of work which is then converted into months of service.  The 6 months of service credit would be correct for many 19  hour TAs.

I am retiring and would like to be covered by the new NYSUT vision plan.  How can I enroll?  Most retirees who have already been to their eye care providers this spring would best be served to join the NYSUT vision plan as of January 1, 2008.  To enroll you must contact NYSUT Member Benefits at 800-626-8101.