Adjunct Faculty Retirement Options

Is the retirement plan option you have chosen for your employment at SRJC the best fit for you?

Do you know what your options are and the differences between them?

Do you know which plan you're enrolled in?

At SRJC, adjunct faculty members have three retirement plan options from which to choose: the CalSTRS Cash Balance Program, the Fidelity Investment Plan, and the CalSTRS Defined Benefit Program. Following is a very basic description of those three plans and some suggestions as to where to go to get more information.

• The CalSTRS Cash Balance (CB) Program: You and the District each contribute 4% of your gross earnings. The plan provides for immediate vesting. Vesting means that you have an immediate right to the District's contributions to your account. All contributions earn a guaranteed rate of interest that is set on an annual basis by CalSTRS. The plan provides a retirement benefit that is based on the balance in your account at retirement, which is comprised of the total of your contributions, the District's contributions, and the accumulated total of compounded interest those contributions earn over time.

For more information about the CalSTRS Cash Balance Program, click on this link: http://www.calstrs.com/Members/Cash%20Balance%20Benefit%20Program/summary.aspx


• The Fidelity Investment Plan: This is a 403(b) plan that the District offers as an alternative to Social Security. You and the District each contribute 3.75% of gross earnings. This plan provides for immediate vesting. Again, that means that you have an immediate right to the District's contributions to your account. Fidelity Investments provides the administration and investment program. You have many choices in terms of how to invest the contributions (or you can let Fidelity make those choices for you). The retirement benefit is based on the balance in your account at retirement and varies depending upon the amount gained–or lost–through investments.

For more information about Fidelity Investments click on this link: https://www.fidelity.com/retirement/planning


• The Defined Benefit (DB) Program: You contribute 8% of your gross earnings and the District contributes 8.25%. If you are vested in the plan, it will provide a lifetime benefit based on a formula that takes into account your age at retirement, the number of years of service credit you have earned, and the average of your three highest years of earnable income. In order to receive this lifetime benefit, you must be "vested" in the plan, which means that you must accrue a minimum of five years of full-time equivalent service in CalSTRS-covered employment. (If you are working full-time in another community college or K-12 district, you will be mandated into the Defined Benefit Program for your work at SRJC.)

For more information about the CalSTRS Defined Benefit Program, click on this link: http://www.calstrs.com/defined-benefit-program

Additionally, CalSTRS automatically establishes an account for all DB Program members under the CalSTRS Defined Benefit Supplemental (DBS) Program. From January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2010, 2% of gross earnings (or 25% of the DB Program's 8% contribution) went into the DBS Program. The DBS program works in the same way as the Cash Balance program, in that the program provides for immediate vesting. All contributions earn a guaranteed rate of interest that is set on an annual basis by CalSTRS. The plan provides a retirement benefit that is based on the balance in your account at retirement, which is comprised of the total of your contributions, the District's contributions, and the accumulated total of compounded interest those contributions earn over time.

For more information about the CalSTRS Defined Benefit Supplemental Program, click on this link: http://www.calstrs.com/Members/Defined%20Benefit%20Supplement/dbsprogsummary.aspx

Not sure which plan you're enrolled in? Check your pay stub at https://www.santarosa.edu/hr/empvac/ and:

• Do the arithmetic. If you multiply your gross earnings by 3.75% (Fidelity), 4% (Cash Balance), or 8% (Defined Benefit) and compare those figures to the retirement deduction on your pay stub, you'll be able to tell which of the three plans you're enrolled in.


• Look for one of the following codes in the "Employee Deductions" section:

STRS = CalSTRS Defined Benefit Program
ACSBL= CalSTRS Cash Balance Program
AFDLT= Fidelity Investments

Thinking of switching plans?

If you are currently participating in either the Cash Balance Program or the Fidelity Investments Plan, it may be advantageous—under certain circumstances—to switch to the Defined Benefit Program. Switching between the Cash Balance Program and the Fidelity Investments Plan is not allowable, nor is switching back to Cash Balance or Fidelity once you elect to enroll in the Defined Benefit Program.

What about Social Security?

Even though SRJC does not currently offer Social Security as a retirement plan option, you may be eligible for Social Security from other employment, and your Social Security benefit may be impacted by the fact that you will receive a benefit from your SRJC retirement plan.

Retirement is a complicated issue, and each person's situation is unique. For these reasons, AFA recommends that you educate yourself as much as possible before you think about making any changes to your SRJC retirement plan. Many sources of information are available online. For example, in addition to the links provided above:

• Click here (http://www.santarosa.edu/afa/Misc/2011-08_PT_Faculty_Retirement_Options_and_Issues.pdf) to download "Part-Time Faculty Retirement Options and Issues"—a very informative presentation by Cliff Liehe, a part-time paralegal instructor at City College of San Francisco.


• Click here (http://www.santarosa.edu/afa/Forms/2007_08_retirement_primer.pdf) to download Cliff Liehe's "Retirement Primer for California Community College Part-Time Faculty."


• Click here (http://www.calstrs.com/Help/forms_publications/printed/MemberHandbook/index.aspx) to see the CalSTRS Members Handbook for 2012.


• Click here (http://www.calstrs.com/Legislation/Federal Legislation/SSandYou.aspx) for information about how a CalSTRS benefit affects a benefit from Social Security.


• Click here (http://www.calstrs.com/Newsroom/whats_new/pension_reform_impacts.aspx) for more information about the impact of the recently enacted pension reform bill (AB340) on CalSTRS programs.

If you have questions, you can also contact the Payroll Department. Lisa Hotchkiss (527-4502 or lhotchkiss@santarosa.edu) and Deepa Desai (527-4500 or ddesai@santarosa.edu) are great resources of information. And, lastly, you might want to consider consulting a financial advisor or benefits advisor.

| Back to Click to AFA |

email afa@santarosa.edu  ♦  phone (707) 527-4731   ♦  web http://www.santarosa.edu/afa