Wayne Clark: How numerous STRS retirees are being fleeced by COLA inequities (Board: Are you listening?)

STRS July – December Retirees Suffering Huge Losses Compared to Other Retirees

The examples below reflect retirees that retired in 2012 with a $40,000 pension and a $1200 annual COLA.  The first two January-June and July-December columns (A and B) show that the STRS retirees would have been granted the same dollars if STRS had implemented the COLA suspension on January 1, 2014 (using the Annual Calendar) and reinstated the new 2% COLA on January 1, 2015.  The result of STRS’s implementing suspensions on July 1st (using the Fiscal Calendar) is illustrated in Columns C and D.  STRS’s use of the Fiscal Calendar for suspension implementation results in an $8400 loss for the July – December retiree.

Until July 1, 2013 the annual COLA was 3% and a COLA was paid every year on all retiree’s retirement anniversary date since 1971.  

This is why the SERS System is asking for a January, 2018 COLA cessation date.  It eliminates the financial inequity that the STRS plan has promoted.

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