in recent days we have been sharing information regarding the health of STRS – overall the health of the account is good and has improved greatly since the 2008 hit, it is 80% funded for the next 30 years and the health care is funded to the tune of 175% – with that said there are forces at work to hijack our money – and they have 90 billion reasons to try and get their hands on our account – so far this group has been successful in stoking resentment among current retirees surrounding the COLA and the like with a narrative around the pay of those that manage the account and even attack ads surrounding those running for the board – this group was successful in getting 3 of the OEA supported candidates removed from the board – 2 of the 3 we/Nate have worked with personally – they were good men that were looking out for us – BE VIGILANT – the money paid to upkeep the building and pay the salaries of those at STRS is about 1% of the total fund – so keep that in mind – and those that run for the board ARE VOLUNTEERS – THEY DO NOT GET PAID –
when many of you started working, STRS had 4 members paying in to 1 retiree pulling $$ out – in the last years that has switched to 1 to 1 – and if you have been paying attention is set to flip the other way as fewer and fewer professionals enter education and/or resign – keep in mind that within about 8 years of your retirement you will have used up all the money YOU put in AND the $$ the district has put in – after that, it’s all the investments of the fund – SO WE NEED THOSE THAT SUPPORT US AS MEMBERS of the board and are working in our interests – I had occasion to “meet” Arthur Lard last night and believe he has our best interests at heart – for ALL educators – !! We are still working on bringing in a speaker about this – and there is fresh info on the retirement page about the SVB investments – that loss was only .03 % of the fund – so relax and don’t be misled by chatter on FB