Latest / The SEANC View / DID YOU KNOW? State Retirees Deserve Better

Transcript

DID YOU KNOW? State Retirees Deserve Better · The SEANC View

• 0:00
  Hey, retirees, you've asked for your own did you know, comparing you to retirees
• 0:05
  in other states, so here we go.
• 0:07
  You are in TEASERS, Teachers and State Employees Retirement System.
• 0:10
  It's the ninth largest system in the country, and only five systems in this
• 0:14
  country are better funded asset to liability ratio-wise, which means how much
• 0:20
  money we have versus what we would have to pay out to everybody.
• 0:23
  When you retire, an AFC is used to determine what your check's going to be at
• 0:27
  your highest 48 straight months of your highest pay times a retirement factor
• 0:33
  or formula of 1.82% set by statute, that'll matter in a minute,
• 0:38
  times creditable service years.
• 0:40
  So how do we stack up? This 1.82 is 19 clicks below the average around the country.
• 0:50
  The average for our nation in terms of state retirement fund formulas is 2.01.
• 0:59
  Those 19 clicks matter. Every click is worth about four-tenths of 1% of your check.
• 1:07
  So 19 clicks would translate in your check to almost 10% a month.
• 1:13
  We're going to round it up to 10 because it's so close. It would be about 10%
• 1:17
  per month difference to you if we went with what the average state is giving
• 1:24
  in terms of a formula to its employees.
• 1:27
  Now remember, we're one of the biggest and the baddest, and we're 10% behind
• 1:31
  average just when they initially calculate your check.
• 1:35
  Then what happens? Well, the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement
• 1:40
  Systems, its 2025 report,
• 1:42
  reported that three-quarters of the states are giving a colon,
• 1:47
  not a bonus, not a one-time anything, a true cost-of-living adjustment.
• 1:53
  What does that translate into?
• 1:54
  Well, for more than half of those, it's 3%.
• 1:59
  So you're 10% behind when your check is originally calculated,
• 2:04
  and then three-quarters of
• 2:07
  the country is getting another 3% on top of that in terms of a real COLA.
• 2:11
  Now, why, if we're so huge, are we this far behind average for our retirees? It's wrong.
• 2:19
  The only reason for a fund our size to be that far behind is because we're not
• 2:25
  giving the money. The fund, there's only five funds with a better asset to liability
• 2:30
  ratio than us because we don't give the money to our retirees.
• 2:34
  It's there to try to be one of the best funded in the country.
• 2:38
  Being one of the biggest and best does you no good if you can't take care of
• 2:42
  the people who worked their entire careers taking care of us.
• 2:46
  And if you're not a state employee, not a retiree, and you don't know why this
• 2:50
  matters, I would just ask you.
• 2:52
  The people that come out after a hurricane, after a huge snowstorm,
• 2:56
  when everybody else is staying at home, the people who stayed in the job during COVID,
• 3:00
  the people who make sure your bridges are built correctly and they're safe for
• 3:04
  you to traverse, that your elevators are safe to get in with your family,
• 3:08
  that your vulnerable populations are taken care of in DHHS facilities,
• 3:12
  and who were your teachers in the classroom.
• 3:15
  All of these people, you can remember them or think about them.
• 3:19
  They took those jobs for much less than they would have made in the private
• 3:22
  sector because North Carolina always took care of its employees when they retired.
• 3:27
  They didn't have to worry about that.
• 3:29
  Senate budget this year came out last night. It does nothing for retirees.
• 3:33
  Nothing, not even a bonus.
• 3:35
  We're so far behind average, y'all. And that is not a place that North Carolina
• 3:40
  should ever be on anything.
• 3:42
  But we can fix this. The House has a budget yet to come. and then I'm hopeful
• 3:45
  if the House puts something in which we're going to push hard at seeing it for
• 3:49
  that the Senate will agree to that with the House.
• 3:53
  But I wanted you to know because you wanted to know.
• 3:56
  I don't think it'll make you feel any better about where we are but it certainly
• 4:00
  gives you information for when you call your legislators to make your own case
• 4:05
  and make the case of your neighbors that this far below average just won't do. Thanks.