Pensions for Educators and Their Families - National Educational Services

State Teacher Retirement Pensions 101

For 35+ years, National Educational Services helps educators and their families with retirement planning.

What Are pensions?

Pensions are retirement plans that requires your employer to contribute to a pool of funds set aside for the worker’s future benefit.

The funds invest on the employee’s behalf, and the earnings generate retirement income for the employee.

Each state has different laws relative to Pensions. In some states, employees can contribute part of their income to help fund their retirement, in addition to their employer contributions. Sometimes, the employer matches a portion of the workers’ contributions or a percentage or specific dollar amount.

Retired educators receive a modest retirement Pension, usually after decades of public service.

Many teachers get paid average salaries, making Pensions an essential driver of educator recruitment and retention. Pension benefit levels are different between each state and set by state statutes.

National Educational Services help educators and their families with retirement planning.

The bulk of National Educational Services members are teachers, and their compensation adheres to strict salary schedules, often established through collective bargaining with local school districts.

For the past 35+ years, NES has helped members contribute to their Pensions. Pensions that are appropriately funded and carefully invested over many years are highly sustainable.

Two types of pension plans:

There are two types of Pension plans for educators. Here are the differences between the two types of Pensions:

Defined-Benefit Plan: Employer guarantees that the employee receives a certain amount of benefits upon retirement. This type of plan is not affected by the underlying investment plan.

Defined-Contribution Plan: Employer guarantees benefits matching the underlying investment plan performance, like in a 401k, or 403b, in which employees contribute a fixed amount or a percentage of their paycheck to an underlying retirement account.

Think of NES as your “Pension Pros.”

Regardless of which state your Pension is with, we are here to help explain how your Pension Plan works.

If you are a Public or Private School Teacher in or nearing retirement, you must understand how your Pensions and Social Security payouts work.

You’ve worked hard for many years, and now you must sustain yourself in retirement!

Thankfully Pensions and Social Security exist, but they can be confusing and challenging to understand. That’s where NES helps Educators and their families.