DOE teachers: considering retirement?: It's not just the 20 years you want to pass; age an important consideration

Considering retirement? The dearly departed Chaz, generous, resourceful, humorous, long may his memory live and his lessons for us.


--Especially also his financial tips.
Let us recall his tips. Some things to consider: be sure to read again his posts on pensions, the tiers and retirement.

Everyone says be sure to pass your 20 years in the NYC DOE, to improve your pension.

BUT, be sure to consider also age. The older you get, the better your payout, according to these charts on Tier IV and Tier VI.

From back in 2014: "A Simple Chart To Determine Your Tier 4 Pension."
Lots of factors to consider, as the above article indicates.
For example:
"Age Correction Factor: No educator can receive a regular pension before the age of 55. Between 55 and 61 years of age, the pension is reduced by the age correction factor. However, if the educator is part of the 25/55 program or has completed 30 years of service, no age correction factor is used."

Source for these charts: Chaz School's Daze post, "Saturday, January 20, 2018 Two Simple Charts That Compare Tier IV and Tier VI Pension Plans."

Tier VI is an outrage. However, few ATRs are Tier VI.

And a few months, later, a Chaze post on the Tier VI pension: "The Tier VI Teacher Retirement Game Is A Sucker's Game."

Admirably, the New Action caucus started a petition (around 2019, assuming from when the following blogpost was) for helping the Tier VI employees. From late November 2019: "Comparing Tier VI To Tier IV Pension"

Here's the link to New Action's petition for Tier VI workers: "Pension Improvements for NYC Educators"

From March 5, 2019, Chaz School Daze: "Why Defined Pensions Are Great For Teachers."

Why the stakes are high in veteran teacher terminations: 'Retirement' without quality pensions

Harper's Magazine had a sobering August, 2014 article, "The End of Retirement," in which Jessica Bruder reported on retirees that had inadequate pensions. She encountered roving "elderly migrant workers" who work at Amazon warehouses or on farms.

Many of the points from the Harper's Article: Many of these workers were actually former members of the middle class, with management jobs in corporate America. These new migrants often travel in RVs, moving from job to job. The work is often too taxing for people their age, people in their 70s or 80s. Corporate America's shift from traditional pensions to 401(k)s has meant that workers have lost in the long run.

Some of the main points were earlier published in U.S. News & World Report, "A Disturbing Look at the New Retirement."

ATRs, and other teachers threatened with termination-- This is your future if the DOE field supervisors or other administrators. 

Notice how many ATRs with between 20 and 25 satisfactory rating years in the system and are suddenly getting U ratings? Termination before 25 years will keep these teachers away from getting full pensions necessary for a quality retirement. The opportunity to "hold down runaway pensions" is likely what is driving the effort to terminate teachers, whether by observation of ATRs in substituting situations or by Danielson-style teacher evaluation. Tenure remains, but states have an opportunity to evade their pension obligations. 

And where is the UFT on this threat? As field supervisors inappropriately give unsatisfactory ratings in subbing performances, ATRs are feeling abandoned. ATRs felt sold out by the Contract on Educators. Now they feel betrayed, as members report hearing UFT president Mulgrew buying WNYC's rhetoric and calling ATRs "unwanted teachers" on NPR, when the reality is that their salaries prevent them from being hired.