Active Members Receive Pension Upgrade

Current active teachers will be receiving more pension in retirement thanks to a conditional upgrade approved by the STF Executive this spring.

Eligible teachers will receive a 2.7% increase on all pension benefits earned between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2021. For the average teacher, that works out to about $240 a year in retirement.

Who is eligible?

• Any teacher who provided service under contract in the 2020-21 and/or 2021-22 school year(s) and has not retired or received a termination benefit from the Plan.
• Includes those receiving benefits from the Teachers’ Long-Term Disability Plan. Does not include substitute teaching service.

What’s the increase?

• 2.7% or about $240 a year in retirement income for the average teacher.

On what service?

• All pension benefits earned between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2021.

A conditional upgrade is an increase to lifetime pensions that may be granted depending on the funded status of the Plan. It is not a guaranteed benefit. Unlike cost-of-living adjustments that are applied to pensions that are already in pay (e.g., for retired members), conditional upgrades are applied to the earned pension benefits of members that are still working.

The upgrade will be applied to members’ pensions on June 30, 2022 and will be shown on the June 30, 2022 annual statements. Annuals statements are mailed to members in December, and after that date, can also be viewed online by logging in to MySTF.

While the Plan does allow for conditional COLA to post-2015 pensions already in pay, retired members are not affected by the increase at June 30, 2022 (though they still received their annual cost-of-living adjustment on pre-2015 benefits in January 2022). However, the Board will continue to evaluate the possibility of providing post-retirement conditional COLA for post-2015 pension benefits going forward. Any post-retirement conditional COLA granted would be provided in January of the given year.

The Board and Executive continue to monitor the health of the Plan and will determine each fall whether conditional increases for active and/or retired members can be provided.

What’s the Difference?
Pre-retirement conditional upgrades These are increases to your lifetime monthly pension applied before you retire. These upgrades may or may not be granted depending on the funded status of the Plan and may apply to either your pre-2015 lifetime pension or your post-2015 lifetime pension. If granted, the increase is applied on June 30 of the applicable year.	Post-retirement conditional COLA These are increases to your lifetime monthly pension applied after you have retired. These COLA increases may or may not be granted depending on the funded status of the Plan and apply to pension benefits earned after June 30, 2015. If granted, the increase is applied on January 1 of the applicable year.	Post-retirement guaranteed COLA These are increases to your monthly pension benefit earned before July 1, 2015, to account for increases to the cost of living. They occur each January 1 and are equal to 80% of inflation to a maximum of 3%.