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Retirement Resources
ARTICLE XI: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
L. Retiree Benefits
1. Commencing on January 1, 2025, for employees hired on and after July 1, 2007, the District shall provide health insurance premiums for any benefited unit member retiring after reaching age 55 (and in our employ at the time) through the month prior to the month when the unit member reaches age 65, provided said unit member has served fifteen (15) consecutive years of service in the District prior to retirement. The District shall provide only the retiring employee who qualified for benefits under the provisions of the paragraph above, annual medical insurance coverage from any District-provided health insurance plan that is being offered to active bargaining unit members, subject to the same annual Benefit Cap and contribution required of employees set forth in paragraph D above. The retiring unit member’s spouse/domestic partner shall not be eligible for district-provided benefits.
2. For employees hired prior to June 30, 2007, the District shall provide health insurance premiums for any benefited unit member retiring after reach age 55 (and in our employ at the time) through the month prior to the month when the unit member reaches age 65, provided said unit member has served ten (10) consecutive years of service in the District prior to retirement. The District shall provide the retiring employee who qualified for benefits under the provisions of the paragraph above, annual medical insurance coverage for both unit member and spouse/domestic partner from any District provided health insurance plan that is being offered to active bargaining unit members, subject to the same annual Benefit Cap and contribution required of employees set forth in paragraph D above. Spousal/domestic partner coverage for post-retirement medical insurance benefits will terminate when the spouse/domestic partner reaches 65 years of age, regardless of the employee’s age.
3. The retiring employee hired prior to July 1, 1996, and aged 65 years or older, shall elect annual medical insurance coverage from one of the following district-provided options: A. For those eligible for Medicare “A” coverage the District will provide Medicare “B” plus Medicare Supplemental premium. B. For those not eligible for Medicare, the District will provide Medicare “A”, Medicare “B”, plus a Medicare Supplement premium.
ARTICLE XXII: EARLY RETIREMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM
By November 30th of each school year, the District must announce whether or not a retirement incentive will be offered. If a retirement incentive is offered, the deadline for unit members to submit their retirement notice and be eligible for that year’s Early Retirement Incentive Program will be January 30th of the school year in which it is offered. Participation in the Early Retirement Incentive Program will be offered to those employees who have:
1. Attained 55 years of age prior to retirement;
2. Completed at least ten (10) years of full-time service in this district under the provisions of the State Teachers Retirement System
CalSTRS
CalSTRS, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, is the largest educator-only public pension fund in the world. As a global financial services institution and state agency, our unique organizational culture emphasizes customer service, leadership and respect for our members and our colleagues.
CalSTRS provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits to California’s more than 1 million public school educators and their beneficiaries.
CTA Resources
CTA 403 B
The CTA plan allows you to put aside part of your salary in a tax-advantaged way until you need it at retirement. When you enroll in the plan, your contributions to your retirement account will happen automatically every time you get paid. This will help make sure you are meeting your retirement savings goals. You can contribute any amount you wish, up to the annual maximum. If you’re under age 50, you can save up to the annual maximum ($23,500 for 2025). If you’re age 50 or older, you can also make catch-up contributions ($7,500). If you’re age 60 to 63, you have higher catch-up contributions ($11,250, instead of $7,500 for 2025). If you have 15 or more years of full-time service, in certain districts you may also be able to contribute up to $3,000 more for five years (up to a maximum of $15,000). Even if you can start with only $100.00 per month, it is good to start. As your situation changes you can always increase your contributions. Starting as soon as you are able makes a big difference. You'll have compound interest on your side.
Social Security
On January 5, 2025 the Social Security Fairness Act (Act)was signed into law.
The Act ends the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). These provisions reduced or eliminated the Social Security benefits of over 2.8 million people who receive a pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security (a “non-covered pension”) because they did not pay Social Security taxes. This law increases Social Security benefits for certain types of workers, including some: teachers, firefighters, and police officers in many states; federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System; and
people whose work had been covered by a foreign social security system. Learn more below about the steps the Social Security Administration (SSA) is taking to implement the law.
SMUSD Retirement Plans
Contract