4/3/2008
Charleston, W.Va. – The Consolidated Public Retirement Board (CPRB) is implementing an expedited, yet informative strategy to educate 18,989 teachers and school service personnel in the Teachers Defined Contribution (TDC) Plan of an opportunity to transfer to the Teachers Retirement System (TRS).
Legislation passed during the Regular Session of the State Legislature will allow for such a transfer if a minimum of 65 percent or 12,343 of the TDC members elect to transfer to TRS for 75% of their regular TRS benefits. If 75% or 14,214 of the TDC members elect to transfer, a lower rate will be available for these members to “buy in” for full TRS retirement. The deadline for TDC participants to mail their transfer forms to CPRB or submit to their supervisor is May 12, 2008. The last day that supervisors may mail the transfer forms to CPRB is May 13, 2008.
To meet this deadline, the CPRB employees have initiated an aggressive educational plan which includes mailing notices to each member, along with the transfer form; establishing worksite supervisors and trainers at schools throughout the state; implementing a Call Center at 1-866-413-3985, and creating and distributing informational presentation materials and brochures detailing the transfer.
On April 17, 2008, personalized statements with actuarial calculations will be distributed to the TDC participants to assist these individuals in making their decision. A Web site, https://www.benefitmodeling.com/wv/chooseyourplan, dedicated to the transfer is expected to be available on April 10, 2008.
Direct educational meetings, which will be open to the public, will be offered in the upcoming weeks to allow opportunities to gain additional information and to ask questions. Additional information regarding the dates and location of these events will be forthcoming.
An independent accounting firm, Arnett and Foster, will certify the transfer participation results to CPRB on May 31, 2008. By June 5, 2008, CPRB will verify the transfer election results to Gov. Joe Manchin III and the State Legislature.
CPRB has implemented many new customer oriented features in recent months, including new confidential offices for retirement advisement with free parking, a new appointment system to eliminate waiting to speak with a retirement advisor, new security and privacy rules, and expanded business hours. CPRB offices are open 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on every Tuesday and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m on the first Saturday of each month. Normal business hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Additional information is available on CPRB's Web site at http://www.wvretirement.com.
Contact Information
Diane Holley
(304) 558-0661