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Thank you Tim Lee

It's absolutely shameful! I'm sure the hedge fund managing the TRS pension has no problem taking their exorbitant fees, even when the pension loses money due to fiscal and monetary shocks to the system. Shameful...

Thanks from Wylie ,Texas

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What about if you are Eighty nine years of age

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A raise? Ha!! $45-117 per month is no raise. Try again.

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Hi Tim watching a day late.

Hello Tim, good to see you...Thank you and your team .

Excited for Corpus!

Thank you Tim, for your unflagging support and for giving us 11:37 the information and incentive we need to use our power.

Why do the TRTA and ATPE feel that getting a higher replacement rate that other folks is FAIR? I suggest TRTA & ATPE educate current teachers and retired teachers how SS actually works and help them realize they already get a slightly better deal than regular folks, stop encouraging a their victim mentality, and start attempting to get a COLA to teachers pensions convince the state to pay FICA into SS. These organizations seem to spend a lot of time and effort attempting to change what is actually very fair into a deal that is better that everyone else. I have no idea how many legislators say that WEP & GPO are a funding issue, but if teachers were being cheated, cost should not be the issue. The real issue seems to be misunderstanding how SS is calculated. The reason for WEP is the way SS is progressive, that is, the replacement rate is higher for very low income. Do teachers in TX really make less than $12K/year? That is the income level up to which gets a 90% replacement, which would be the result of the repeal of WEP. SS's PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) is based on AIME (Average Indexed Monthly Income) the sum of 35 years income in todays dollars. When a teacher also works a FICA paying job, it is like a regular person working a second job. There is no method inSS that allows regular folks to start over at the 90% replacement rate. Regular folks will add that additional income into the AIME and have it replaced at 32% or perhaps 15%. But teachers want 90%. That is not FAIRNESS? By the way, gmvt get a 40% or higher replacement rate. If there is a case where a teacher gets less pension plus SS than they would if all of there income had been in a FICA paying environment, it should be fixed, but so far, that example has never been presented. Often it is stated that the "details are too complex." Therefore Gmvt workers never see comparisons with everyone else; they feel negatively affected, but they are not. At almost 21 minutes, Tim states that "not every states is affected by this". The states that pay FICA are not affected, the states that do not pay FICA are. Go to the states to have them fix this. Some comments about the CHAT: (20:49) Susan doesn't realize the military pays FICA and therefore gets SS benefits. (24:15) Laura mentions that she doesn't get any spousal (perhaps she mean survivor, hard to tell). Realize that in two income families, it is not uncommon that their is no spousal increase and often there is no increase for survivor. (28:27) Jane same issue. (27:21) Jose mentions that the GMVT should find money to reimburse "us". I am no fan of the SS system, but it does not take funds from the GMVT for SS benefits; it does for SSI and disability. By law, excess SS funds must be put in the special treasury bills (that pay a lousy return!). There is not extra money. The system was designed by folks that can't do math! (30:38) Congress is returning the trust fund, it is being paid out as SS benefits. That's why it is going to zero. (31:02) Paula, legislators started paying into SS in 1983. If they paid for 30 years, they would not be subject to WEP. Neither would teachers.

FIRST, as your members seem to want to collect SS, what activities are you engaged in to change TX to a SS paying state? That would seem to solve all issues of this in the future. SECOND, you seem like an organization that wants more money. Sadly that is a pretty common desire in this country today. I think the argument that the SS Trust Fund is low is irrelevant, just as irrelevant that your member are struggling. SS should pay what it owes, but it is not a Wellfare program. Need is not a basis for SS benefits. THIRD, I don't quite see how the WEP is terribly UNFAIR. We should all realize that SS is a progressive system, that is, there are three income replacement segments divided by the bend points. Though it is not complex, it is tedious to describe. Essentially, the first $1K of AIME is replaced at 90%, the next $5.5K is replaced at 32%, and the rest is replaced at 15%. Are there gmvt workers making less than $12K/year. If so, perhaps they should receive some 90% replacement, but if they make more why is it consider unfair to treat gmvt workers like the rest of the population? To elaborate on the above, if I take a second job, that additional income is piled on top of my other income and the bend points are applied. I might get a 32% or 15% replacement. In no way does my second job reset my benefit back to zero so that the 90% is applied. FOURTH, at a meeting you MC'd outside the Capitol in Washington, Congressman Richard Neal mentioned a police chief who did not understand and that "persons that put in the necessary quarters, regardless of their status as a current employee, should have their request honored by the SS Trust Fund." Everyone should make some effort to understand their retirement plan; there is an industry to help folks with this. And it is often commented that SS has thousands of rules; another reason to look into it or consult a professional. The thought that gmvt workers paid-in and therefore should receive makes sense, but it does not make sense that they should be treated better or worse that others. As I understand the WEP, gmvt workers get a 40% replacement - note this is larger than my 32% replacement. Congressman Neal later stepped forward to address a question and stated that this was one of those issues the more you explain it, the more complicated it gets." My take is that if you can't or won't explain something, you either don't understand it or you are hiding something. I would be interested to see a calculation of what SS benefits would be if a gmvt worker were to use their entire earning history. Would they be ahead of what they get from their pension and SS today.

Thank you Tim Lee

Thanks from Round Rock Texas

Thank you for your service to the teachers retirement system of Texas

Happy New Year! Hope 2024 Can hear you!

Short seet and to the point. Thank you, Tim and Andrew

Do they have any proof of machine erregularities?

Who has filed lawsuits?

Thank you for your help, concern, and excellent communication.

Please help us by petitioning TRS to immediately issue the 13th check to all retirees who didn't get one in 2023. It took a year to get this passed and in the meantime, we have received nothing in 2023. Then, issue us another one for 2024.

Where is the link to see the plaintiffs in the lawsuits?

Right! Thank you!

If there is a delay in the COLA will the payments be retroactive?