News-2013-Summer-Active 1 |
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The Director’s Corner Retirement Security Tom Spencer, Executive Director I promise this will not be a “Pensions vs. Retirement Accounts” column. They both have their positive and negative qualities. Instead, I want to share the facts with you about retirement security, or the lack thereof, in the United States. The National Institute on Retirement Security recently published a new report using data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances and concluded 45%, or 38 million working-age households in the U.S., have no retirement account assets. As troubling, their research indicates four out of five working families have less than one times their annual income saved for retirement. I’ve written before about the need to be realistic about our retirement dreams. As we enjoy longer lives, most of us will have to defer our retirements to later ages whether we have pensions, 401(k)s or IRAs. Yet, even deferring our retirements doesn’t remove the need for fashioning retirement plans to provide enough income when we can no longer work. Active Member Edition Summer 2013 retiring Right P E R S Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System 2013 Legislative Summary The following is a description of new legislation affecting active and retired members of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS). The implementation of the legislation may initiate new policies, rules, and procedures in the coming months. HB 1325 (Rep. Randy McDaniel and Sen. Rick Brinkley) Effective April 26, 2013 “Final Average Salary” expanded from three to five years for new members Changes the definition of “Final Average Salary” for members who join on or after July 1, 2013. This is the salary number used in the final retirement benefit calculation. New OPERS members will have their salary averaged over the highest five of the last ten years instead of three years in current law. Administrative changes for data reporting, probate waivers and death benefit payments The bill requires participating employers to provide salary and other information for retiring members no later than the fifteenth day of the month of retirement. This will help OPERS speed up the retirement process. The bill also increases the amount that OPERS can pay a deceased member’s heirs without requiring that the estate be probated. It also allows OPERS to pay the final benefit of a deceased member to the named beneficiary before paying the estate of the member. HB 1477 (Rep. Kim David and Sen. Jason Murphy) Effective November 1, 2013 OPERS Board makeup Legislation last year inadvertently removed the Director of Human Capital Management (HCM) of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services from the OPERS Board. This bill puts the Director of HCM back on the board, as well as allows the Corporation Commission member of the board to send a designee in his or her place. Als o in This Is s ue: 2 / Retirement 101 Spending Your Way to Retirement Security 4 / Healthful Hints Be a Superhero, Donate Blood 5 / Pension Advances Threaten Financial Security for Retirees 6 / Contact OPERS (Continued on page 5) (Continued on page 6)
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Title | News-2013-Summer-Active 1 |
Full text | The Director’s Corner Retirement Security Tom Spencer, Executive Director I promise this will not be a “Pensions vs. Retirement Accounts” column. They both have their positive and negative qualities. Instead, I want to share the facts with you about retirement security, or the lack thereof, in the United States. The National Institute on Retirement Security recently published a new report using data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances and concluded 45%, or 38 million working-age households in the U.S., have no retirement account assets. As troubling, their research indicates four out of five working families have less than one times their annual income saved for retirement. I’ve written before about the need to be realistic about our retirement dreams. As we enjoy longer lives, most of us will have to defer our retirements to later ages whether we have pensions, 401(k)s or IRAs. Yet, even deferring our retirements doesn’t remove the need for fashioning retirement plans to provide enough income when we can no longer work. Active Member Edition Summer 2013 retiring Right P E R S Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System 2013 Legislative Summary The following is a description of new legislation affecting active and retired members of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS). The implementation of the legislation may initiate new policies, rules, and procedures in the coming months. HB 1325 (Rep. Randy McDaniel and Sen. Rick Brinkley) Effective April 26, 2013 “Final Average Salary” expanded from three to five years for new members Changes the definition of “Final Average Salary” for members who join on or after July 1, 2013. This is the salary number used in the final retirement benefit calculation. New OPERS members will have their salary averaged over the highest five of the last ten years instead of three years in current law. Administrative changes for data reporting, probate waivers and death benefit payments The bill requires participating employers to provide salary and other information for retiring members no later than the fifteenth day of the month of retirement. This will help OPERS speed up the retirement process. The bill also increases the amount that OPERS can pay a deceased member’s heirs without requiring that the estate be probated. It also allows OPERS to pay the final benefit of a deceased member to the named beneficiary before paying the estate of the member. HB 1477 (Rep. Kim David and Sen. Jason Murphy) Effective November 1, 2013 OPERS Board makeup Legislation last year inadvertently removed the Director of Human Capital Management (HCM) of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services from the OPERS Board. This bill puts the Director of HCM back on the board, as well as allows the Corporation Commission member of the board to send a designee in his or her place. Als o in This Is s ue: 2 / Retirement 101 Spending Your Way to Retirement Security 4 / Healthful Hints Be a Superhero, Donate Blood 5 / Pension Advances Threaten Financial Security for Retirees 6 / Contact OPERS (Continued on page 5) (Continued on page 6) |
Date created | 2013-07-09 |
Date modified | 2013-07-09 |