It's Just Around the Corner

The longevity bonus is due to sunset on December 31, 2010. This bonus provides an increase in the monthly retirement benefit to those members who retire on or after January 1, 2011 and who accumulate 30 or more years of service credit prior to January 1, 2011. The bonuses are as follows:

If a member earns:	The bonus will be:
30 years	$200
31 years	$300
32 years	$400

Any purchases of permissive service credit or redeposits must be paid in full by December 31, 2010, if that service credit is to be used for longevity bonus eligibility.

CalSTRS has made an official decision that all service credit earned from July 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010, including service credit earned from positions outside of a member's full-time contract (e.g. summer school), will be used for longevity bonus eligibility. CalSTRS will record the service credit in members' accounts as of the sunset date, December 31, 2010. As a result, service credit earned in July and August will count toward the eligibility for the bonus, regardless of any subsequent transfer to the Defined Benefit Supplement Program.

It is not necessary to retire by the December 31, 2010 deadline in order to receive the longevity bonus. The eligibility requirement is that the service credit be earned by that date. As an example, if you earned 30 years at the end of the current school year, June 2010, but did not retire until June 2012, you would be entitled to the 32 year bonus of $400.

If you would like to set up a benefits counseling appointment, please contact our secretary, Patti Eckhardt, at (916) 861-0519.

Your CalSTRS counselors:

Elaine Lotta
Ron Lingren
Barbara Overstreet