General Knowledge - NYSTRS Member Pension Education Quiz

Where can you find your NYSTRS EmpID #?

• On your paystub

• On your driver's license

• On your benefit profile mailed in Nov/Dec

• In your email inbox

What should you verify on page 2 of your Benefit Profile?

• Your tier number and beneficiaries

• Your name, address and membership date

• Your prior years employment information

• Your FICA and RETIRE deductions

Where can you find the Pension calculator?

• NYSTRS Quicklinks

• Benefit Profile

• Online Disability or For Protection Only registration

• Loan Information

Who should you contact if you have any questions?

• Any on these

• Chuck Miller

• Mike Braunscheidel and Larry Goble

• Heather Kurtz and Laurie Kennedy

The first and easiest way to begin to understand your personal pension information is:

To access important information and manage retirement benefits on an differentiated basis

• Ask the HR department

• Ask the guy down the hall who says they have a million dollars in the bank

• Google it

• Sign up for a MyNYSTRS account and check out my benefit profile

Answer explanation

That's right.  Go to MyNYSTRS and sign up or sign in.  Benefit profiles are updated by mid-November each year...check it out!

Your pension is based primarily on your age, years of service and salary history.  Which of the following can also affect your pension?

• You have taught for 4 years

• You have taken a loan out from your NYSTRS pension

• You left teaching for a few years and withdrew your membership

• All of these

What reason should someone not even close to retirement begin to educate themselves about the pension and NYSTRS benefits?

• There are benefits associated with your pension before you retire

• Early education helps you plan your other financial planning

• It is wise to add employment years in other public service jobs to your NYSTRS record early in your career

• All of the above

Answer explanation

That's right.  There are many benefits associated with your pension such as loans, disability, death benefits and others that can help you before retirement.  You should also understand how your career decisions and salary projections will affect your pension so that you can better make plans for other savings and financial plans.  Finally, make sure that you find prior service in other public sector jobs in the state (lifeguarding, summer recreation, college jobs for SUNY schools, etc.) so your can get credit in the pension systems for them.

Check out the Active Members handbook to learn about some of these benefits.

When does a NYSTRS pension become vested?

• After 20 years of credited service
• After 5 years of credited service
• After 15 years of credited service
• After 10 years of credited service

Answer explanation

Check out this page to learn about vesting and other benefits associated with various service milestones.

https://www.nystrs.org/Active-Members/Service-Milestones

Organize these options into the right categories

Groups:

(a) Tier 4

,

(b) Tier 6

• Member contributes up to 6% of salary to pension for entire career

• 36% of members belong to this tier.

• 59 percent of NYSTRS members belong to Tier 4

• Member can retire at 63, or must face heavy penalties

• Member contributes 3% of salary to pension for 10 years

• Can retire at age 55 w ith 30 years of service

• Retiring at 55 with 30 years would receive 26.4% of final average salary

• 59% of members belong to this tier

• Retiring at 55 with 30 yrs, would receive 60% of final average salary

Answer explanation

WOW! We know. Check out https://fixtier6.org/ to learn how to support this effort.

What is one of the benefits of being a member of the NYSTRS retirement system?

• Guaranteed pension for life

• Discounted travel benefits

• Free healthcare coverage

• Access to exclusive shopping deals