Teachers retiring on June 1 until May 2035 will need to have been in education for 32 years of service or be 65 years old with five years of service for unreduced benefits. For reduced benefits, educators can be any age with 27 years of service, or age 60 and five years of service.
Educators planning to retire after June 1, 2035, will need to have at least 33 years of service for a full benefit, and teachers retiring on or after June 1, 2037 will need to have taught at least 34 years.
“We are glad to see that the STRS Board has approved another cost-of-living adjustment for retirees and has extended the current years of service requirement for active members until 2035, allowing educators to retire with full benefits at any age after 32 years of service; or at age 65 after five years of service,” Melissa Cropper, Ohio Federation of Teachers president, said.
The STRS board says their consultant brought in to continue to ensure the system is sustainable has determined these changes don’t impair the fiscal integrity of the system.
STRS simultaneously announced a “strategic decision-making framework” that the board will use to guide how resources will be allocated to the pension fund and future adjustments in benefits.
As part of the framework, the board aims to make 32 years of service the permanent standard for unreduced retirement benefits and provide a permanent 1% cost-of-living adjustment for retirees.
STRS Ohio’s funded ratio — a measure comparing assets to promised benefits — has improved to more than 80%, reflecting meaningful progress since 2012 when the funded ratio was below 60%, STRS said in a statement.
“By adopting this framework in advance of specific benefit decisions, the board is demonstrating great governance and strong fiduciary leadership,” Steve Toole, STRS Ohio executive director, said. “Establishing clear, disciplined guardrails before resources become available is considered a best-in-class practice among public pension systems.”
STRS says the plan “establishes clear funding benchmarks and governance guardrails” for benefit decisions and was made using the results from a survey of more than 3,600 people in January.
Based on that survey, the top priority for current educators is reducing years of service for retirement eligibility and the second priority is strengthening long-term pension sustainability.
Retirees said their top priority is strengthening long-term pension sustainability, and providing larger, more frequent cost-of-living adjustments.
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