San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS)

Happy Friday! I'm sure we are all grateful this latest heat wave is coming to an end. According to a recent study published by a website called 247wallst.com, California has the third highest cost of living in the country. The article also says that for a comfortable retirement in California, you need an average of about $1.4 million in savings - more than any other state except for Hawaii and New York! Luckily, SDCERS members can sleep easy knowing they will receive monthly pension income for the rest of their life after they retire. https://247wallst.com//what-it-costs-to-retire-comforta/2/

Who is ready for the first official fall weekend? It may still feel like summer here, but it's technically fall believe it or not! Fall is an important time of year here at SDCERS, because the Board makes several important decisions every year at its November meeting. This year's meeting will be held remotely on November 13th at 8:30 a.m. PST. Tune in to hear the Board's decisions regarding the Annual Supplemental Benefit, Corbett benefit, and DROP account & annuity rates that will take effect January 1, 2021. This last one is very important to anyone actively participating in DROP, as it could affect your decision regarding your retirement/DROP exit date!

It's another Friday! We hope you all found ways to escape the heat over the past few days. Did you know that while you're in DROP, even though you're technically "retired" in some ways, if you are permanently disabled such that you can no longer perform your job duties due to a work-related injury or illness, you may still be able to qualify for an industrial disability retirement. Note that the requirements for an industial disability retirement are different from Workers' Compensation requirements - so just because you qualify for one does not necessarily mean you will qualify for the other. You can review our disability retirement fact sheet here: https://www.sdcers.org//Subject/Disability-Retirement.aspx

Even though it was a short week for most of us, we are still glad it's Friday! Did you know that your SDCERS pension benefit might affect your social security benefits? A law called the "Windfall Elimination Provision" may require your social security benefit amount to be decreased because you receive a pension from the City, which does not pay into social security. Contact the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 for any questions about your particular circumstances.

Happy Labor Day weekend! We hope you all find ways to escape the heat for the next few days. Did you know that for 2020, the average retired American receives $1,503/month in social security benefits? That's a little more than $18,000/year. In comparison, the average annual pension benefit for an SDCERS retiree in FY2020 was approximately $50,000.

Today is the last Friday in August, which means we are quickly approaching fall! We hope everyone is staying cool during this heat wave. If you are currently working for the City, Port, or Airport but you think you might be leaving for a new job, you should check out our Termination & Deferred Membership Fact Sheet (linked below). If you leave your current job before earning enough service credit to eventually be eligible to retire and receive a pension, you have a few options regarding your member contributions and you should schedule an appointment with a retirement counselor to discuss these options. https://www.sdcers.org//Termination-Deferred-Membership.as

Happy Friday! We are sorry we didn't have a weekly Facebook post last week - we temporarily lost power in our downtown office building for a few days and, as a result, our website and Member Portal was down, and staff was unable to access our work email and internal network. But we've been back up since Monday! Normally, the only way to earn service credit is to work for one of our plan sponsors and make your member contributions each pay period. However, there are some cases... when you can purchase service credit for time periods when you were not actively working and making contributions - examples include FMLA leave and some military leave periods. To find out if you are eligible to purchase any prior time, log in to your Member Portal and click on "Service Purchase Calculator." (Note: you must be actively working for a plan sponsor in order to purchase service credit.) See more

TGIF. Do you know who is named to receive your death benefit(s)? If not, please log in to your Member Portal, click on the "Beneficiary Information" page, and see if you need to make any updates. Active DROP participants and retirees can learn more about their death benefits in this article: https://www.sdcers.org//Member-Portal-,-News-Articles-,-Pe

It's the last day of July, and also pension pay day! On today's pension paycheck,most SDCERS retirees should see a 2% increase - this is due to the annual Cost of Living Adjustment ("COLA"). Don't spend it all in one place!

Happy Friday! Only one more week of July! SDCERS just added a new educational video to its collection - this one explains how a divorce may affect your SDCERS pension benefits. You can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guZrUGcPxQM

It's Friday again! Did everyone remember to get their taxes filed by Wednesday of this week? Fun Fact: SDCERS will not garnish your pension for state tax levies. However, SDCERS will garnish your pension for an IRS tax levy. Have a great weekend everyone!

It's Friday again! Can you believe we are already about halfway through 2020? Welcome to Fiscal Year 2021! On July 7th, the annual interest posted to the contribution accounts of all non-retired members who have contributions on account with SDCERS. The interest rate was 6.5% for all except inactive non-vested Airport Authority members, who received 2.5%. (You are an inactive non-vested Airport Authority member if you terminated Airport employment without being service-eligible to retire and you left your contributions on account with SDCERS.)

We made it through another work week! CITY RETIREES: Health Open Enrollment ends next TUESDAY, June 30th. Make sure you've sent in any enrollment/disenrollment forms before then!