The Teach & Retire Program provides pension, retirement, and financial education and assistance to school employees. It involves confidential, one-to-one meetings between teachers and program volunteers that are held on school property for their convenience.
I created this program after I read the New York Times article “Think Your Retirement Plan is Bad? Talk to a Teacher” and the consumer advocate website www.403bwise.com.
I also spoke with teachers, people in the financial services industry, and salespeople who gave me the inside scoop on how poorly teachers were educated about their pensions and retirement.
I have great respect and appreciation for educators as a result of years of working in nonprofit organizations that partnered with schools and the experience of our children (one of whom has Down syndrome) in public schools.
My feeling is that now more than ever the people who educate our children deserve our support. This is particularly true now that public school funding and public employee pensions are increasingly under attack. The likely deregulation of the financial services industry will further put public employee retirement plans at risk. The stock market is booming now but many analysts believe a crash or at least a market correction is coming.
Program details are below. Please let me know if you or your school district is open to participating.
TEACH & RETIRE PROGRAM DETAILS
WHAT
The Teach & Retire Program provides pension, retirement, and financial education and assistance to school employees. Confidential, one-to-one meetings between school staff, teachers and program volunteers are held on school property to ensure teachers are able to attend them.
Top 7 concerns addressed at these meetings include:
- How much will my pension pay me when I retire?
- Can you help me with pension paperwork?
- What is the Social Security Offset and how much will it reduce my income?
- Are my 403(b) plans appropriate and do they contain excessive fees?
- What are the tax benefits of my policies and what happens if rates change?
- What happens to my pension and retirement savings if the stock market crashes?
- How much will taxes take from my income?
WHO
Volunteers include Certified Public Accountants, PFS, CFPs and others with dozens of years of experience who are licensed to discuss topics including pensions, taxes, 403(b) plans, insurance and investments.
WHY
People who educate our children deserve our support. Public school funding and public employee pensions are under attack. Deregulation of the financial services industry will weaken consumer protections.
Educators are already a poorly served population as described in the New York Times article “Think Your Retirement Plan is Bad? Talk to a Teacher” and the consumer advocate website www.403bwise.com.
HOW
Once a year, a limited number of appointments are made available to staff at select school districts. Contacted by email, school staff can schedule an appointment using our convenient online system which will also remind them, allow them to reschedule or cancel. Volunteers are available to meet at schools during lunch, prep, breaks, and after school which are the most convenient times for teachers.
Some school districts only allow representatives of approved companies to meet with staff on school property. In these situations our volunteers usually contract with those companies to ensure access and/or meet off-campus in nearby locations.
WHEN
A limited number of openings are available to School Districts depending on the availability of volunteers in the area.
To participate please contact Sam Ingersoll, Founder, Teach & Retire Project, sam@samingersoll.com, (800) 254-1749.
Please share this information with anyone who might benefit from it.
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