Where am I?
As a teacher with a pension, what should I be doing early in my career? How does the teacher’s retirement system work for me? I don’t contribute to Social Security. What does that mean for me? What is a 403(b) savings account? Should I contribute to one? How do I choose a company to use? Should I save to a Roth IRA? Will my salary go up over time?
Savings started early can provide large benefits later.
Where am I going?
How much should be saving for retirement? How will the teacher’s pension plan help me? Can I qualify for Social Security through part-time or summer work? Are my 403(b) savings working as hard as I am? Am I taking advantage of the most effective 403(b) plan offered? Can I borrow from my 403(b) account? How do I buy a house or condo? If I leave teaching, how do I leverage what I’ve accumulated? Should I be saving pre-tax or Roth into my 403(b)?
Take some time from working hard to plan for you and your family’s future.
How will I get there?
What pension plan option should I consider? Should I consider Option A and buying life insurance? Can I take a lump sum retirement benefit? How do I know what my pension will be? Do I pay taxes on my retirement income? Can I “buy back” prior years of service with pre-tax dollars? How do I know when the best time to retire is? How does Retirement Plus affect my pension benefit? Should I increase my pre-tax savings to reduce income taxes? How can I maximize my tax sheltered savings? What are the Wage Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and how do they affect me? How should I be investing at this stage of my life?
After years of hard work, bringing all the pieces of your financial life together into an effective strategy can create a more comfortable retirement.
How do I protect my plan?
How can I “inflation protect” my teacher’s pension? Where do I get health insurance from at retirement? What will it cost? Do I have to enroll in Medicare? How does my spouse factor into all of this? Will they be covered also? Can I collect both Social Security and the teacher’s pension? How do Social Security spousal benefits work? Do I need life insurance in retirement? Should I consolidate my various retirement savings plans? What changes should I consider to my investment allocations?
After a lifetime of work, there are protections that are necessary to ensure your comfortable retirement.
