Committees - RTA Pension & Benefits

 

 

Representatives

 

 

For the 2011/12 year the committee objectives are:

1. Complete the marketing plan for "Actives": BCTF MEDOC plan members were transferred to the BCRTA MEDOC plan September 1, 2011 and have been sent a letter welcoming them to the BCRTA.

2. New membership options were reported at TPPAC - both BCTF and BCPVPA were assured that the BCRTA would not actively compete with their insurance plans.

3. A letter is being prepared for College and BCSSA.

4. Develop an affinity plan - follow up by a subcommittee

5. Prepare BCTF AGM strategy to address 2012 resolutions and recommendations when they become available.

6. Review BCRTA EHC Plan 2 and make recommendations.

How the Teachers' Pension Plan Works

The Teachers' Pension Plan is a partnership governed by the Joint Trust Agreement between the Government of British Columbia (Plan Employer Partner) and the BC Teachers' Federation (Plan Member Partner). This Joint Trust Agreement came into effect on April 4, 2001.

Click here for full article

 

 

Teachers' Pension Plan EHC Plan with Pacific Blue Cross

 

The application form is available by clicking here

And for more information click here

EHC & Dental Booklet - Plan Details

 

 

Voluntary Extended Health Care Plan

 

Pacific Blue Cross:

Direct 604.419.2600

Toll Free in BC 1.888.275.4672

Toll Free elsewhere in Canada 1.888.873.9200

If you are a current member of a Blue Cross plan, you might want to take a careful look at Caresnet and how it can benefit you

click here to access Pacific Blue Cross website

 

 

Pension Inflation Adjustment 2012

Effective January 1, 2012 most retirees will get a 3.2% inflation adjustment increase in their pensions.

For more information click here

 

 

BCTF Inflation Adjustment Account (IAA) Consultation 2010

Our Pension’s inflation adjustment:  The future is worth thinking about!
 
Members of the BCTF Executive Committee and the BCTF Pensions Committee visited each BCTF local to provide information to ALL Teachers’ Pension Plan members, active and retired.  They received input into possible changes to our pension plan and the provision of indexing and benefits through the Inflation Adjustment Account (IAA).

The 2010 BCTF AGM dealt with the immediate objective to achieve sustainable indexing by supporting the following options:

* Increase active teachers contribution to the IAA by 1%,

* Remove the Extended Health Benefits subsidy,

* Provide indexing only from age 60,

* Index only the lifetime portion of the pension.

 Link to IAA information on the BCTF website

 copy of Consultation presentation to the BCRTA AGM (pdf)

 copy of "Our Pension: The future is worth thinking about!" (pdf)

 Retirement Benefits: The Facts & the Challenge (pdf)

 

 

From the Summary of Reports 2011

Pensions & Benefits Committee Report on the Elk Valley Motion

At the 2010 BCRTA Annual General Meeting the Elk Valley RTA brought forward the following motion:

“That the BCRTA requests that the Trustees of the Teachers’ Pension Plan amend policy on Inflation Adjustments by replacing the across the board percentage increase with a dollar amount that is the same for every retiree.”

The AGM passed the following motion:

“That this motion be referred to the BCRTA Pensions & Benefits committee for investigation and report back to the 2011 AGM.”

1. BCRTA is an organization that promotes the interests and guards the welfare of its members. Social activism that aims to improve the income of members and low-income seniors in general is a laudable social goal. Members should know that the BCRTA, with the Canadian Association of Retired Teachers, the National Pensioners’ and Senior Citizens’ Federation, the Council Of Senior Citizens’ Organizations and the Canadian Labour Congress is actively lobbying for increases to the Guaranteed Income Supplement and Old Age Security benefit and improved Canada Pension Plan benefits. The BCRTA’s first priority for 2010 –2011 is to eliminate the Medical Service Plan premiums for seniors.

2. The motion under study, however, is one directed at the Teachers’ Pension Plan (TPP). The TPP is a public sector pension plan which is governed by a Joint Trust Agreement (JTA) between the Partners, BCTF and government of BC, and by legislation: the Public Sector Pension Plans Act (PSPPA) and the Pension Benefits and Standards Act (PBSA). The TPP must be governed consistent with both the JTA and the legislation.

3. The TPP is a defined benefit plan. The pension that a member receives is determined by a formula based on years of service, age at retirement and best five years average salary. The benefit is not determined by social objectives. The PBSA requires the pension plan to pay benefits that comply with the pension formula. Generally there is a relationship between the pension received and the contributions made because more years of service and higher salary mean higher contributions. This relationship is consistent with the legislation, the JTA and Pension Plan rules.

4. Because of low service, some members of the pension plan receive small pensions. But the information about a member’s pension and income is private so we can never know if a small pension means that a member’s total income is also small.

5. The Pension Plan Rules require pension inflation protection to be done as a percentage applied to the entire pension. The trustees could not apply pension increases as a set dollar amount without changing the pension plan rules. In changing the rules the trustees must take into account the interest of, and must consider the impact on all members.

6. Active and retired plan members could argue that the pension accrued to the date of any such rule change is vested (locked in) and only the indexing of pensions accrued after the change of rule date could be affected. This would make the administration both costly and cumbersome. Members who do not agree with the use of the pension plan to meet social objectives might well sue the pension plan.

7. This kind of a change could lead to some surprising results. There are currently pensions being paid of less than $20/year, probably survivor pensions or very short service pensions. If a 1% increase in the average pension was applied as a dollar amount the increase may be about $300 boosting that pension from $20/year to $320/year. It would not be evenhanded for the trustees to implement an indexing method whereby a retiree who is entitled to a very small pension receives the same dollar increase as a member who contributed 35 years.. Furthermore it would not be evenhanded for the BCRTA to ask the trustees to take money that is owed one member and redistribute it to another member.

8. Finally, we should consider the intention of inflation adjustments. The annual increases are designed to protect the purchasing power of all initial pensions. A percentage increase, matched to the consumer price index, is the only way to maintain that objective.

9. Providing a dollar increase, on the other hand, transfers an earned benefit from one member to another and contravenes BCRTA policy which states that the pension goal of the Plan Member Partner is to provide a pension that is “service based, fully indexed and maintains the relative economic status of members”.

 

 

Pensions & Benefits - Postscript Articles

Summer 2010

BCTF 2010 AGM report; Tips for Planning a Trip; Johnson enhances Identity Theft coverage with additonal Identity Restoration benefits

Winter 2010

Pension Reform; Teachers' Pension Plan EHB plan Update

Fall 2010

Travel Information/Insurance; Discount Opportunities; MEDOC Travel Insurance Renewal

Spring 2010

Ken Smith (1940 - 2010); Pension payment dates; Long Term Care and Benefits of Care Coordination; Responsible Investing Report (April 2008 - March 2009); Responsible Investing; Ken Smith 1940 - 2010

Winter 2009

Have your say! (Pension Consultation); Deflation and your pension; A Medical Lesson Learned; Trip Cancellation coverage - Why is it automatically included in my policy?; Honesty is the best policy when completing the Health Option Questionnaire; Tax Tips for Retirees

Summer 2009

My Pension - What if i die?

Spring 2009

Pension Payment Dates; The Markets and your Pension Plan; Tax Time Nears; RRIF Rules Change; Loss of RRIF value may be re-gained; Tax-Free Savings Accounts

Winter 2008

Report of the (ACER-CART) Pension and Retirement Income Committee; Financial Market Turmoil; Inflation?; Single Trip Travel Insurance

Fall 2008

The Tax Free Savings Account; Good Intentions, or just Smoke?

Summer 2008

Travel discounts available for trips to specialists; Information Services for Seniors; Pension and Benefits Information; Changing pension options; Save the EHB and Dental plans; Living with the new Dental Plan; The information you need is a click away (CARESnet); Yesterday, your coverage was great. Today, it's gone platinum (Home Insurance)

Spring 2008

What is a Trustee; Government and Alberta Teachers reach Agreement; Is Inflation Higher for Seniors?; Pension Payment Dates

 

 

RTA Pension & Benefits Archives