Trina Kay Prufer: The injustice of changing the defined-benefit agreement after retirement

From Trina Kay Prufer

September 6, 2023

The injustice of changing the defined-benefit agreement after retirement 

One of the issues that keeps me up at night is the injustice of changing the defined-benefit, after it was worked for, and agreed upon. Inflation protection, in the form of an annual 3% cola, is not “something extra” in the form of an “enhancement”, it the life blood of how we live the rest of our lives. It preserves the buying power of the original benefit. We were all given OPTIONS in how we wanted to receive the payout of the defined-benefit.

Those options turned out to be lies. We ALL need inflation protection, especially as Ohio is a non-Social Security state. Taking the partial PLOP or account withdrawal, could have provided the inflation protection we need NOW. Compounded interest over time is powerful in preserving a stable income over the retirement years. Our buying power is now diminished by about 25%, all since 2012, and causes tremendous anxiety and stress.

Personal retirement investment accounts generate income, in addition to preserving capital. We were robbed of that choice, because we were not given truthful information. STRS continues to make money off the amounts we contributed, for many of us since the 1970s. That’s unjust enrichment.