Should state workers retire before pension law kicks in?
Big changes to Illinois' pension plans often come with talk of teachers and other state workers considering retiring early to try to avoid cuts, potentially leaving schools and agencies short of seasoned help.
As people affected by the benefit cuts approved last week sort out what the complicated new law means to them, it's not clear retiring early would be such a good idea.
For one, it's uncertain when — or if — the plan to slow the growth of yearly pension benefits and raise the retirement age would take effect.
The new law is supposed to take hold June 1. But expected lawsuits from union leaders and retirement associations could push that date back or overturn it altogether.
So someone who retires a year or two earlier than planned, thinking it would be helpful under the new law, could instead get caught in a tough spot if the Illinois Supreme Court overturns it.
The early retiree would have missed out on a year or more of salary — which would be more money than a year of pension benefits — as well as probable pay raises that would have increased the eventual size of the pension.
Plus, the new law says teachers and workers have to contribute 1 percentage point less of their salaries toward retirements, giving them a little extra money in every paycheck.
“You're no better off retiring (early) at this point,” Illinois Retired Teachers Association Executive Director Jim Bachman said.
Retiring before the law takes effect could have some benefit to a narrow group of teachers and workers, however.
Working teachers and retirees, for example, see their annual benefit changes in retirement cut in the same way. But those still working when the law takes effect also have to skip a few pension raises in retirement.
Generally, teachers ready to retire are older than 50, an age at which they would have to skip only one year of pension cost-of-living increases, said Teachers' Retirement System spokesman Dave Urbanek. Younger people have to skip more.
Retiring before the law takes effect could spare a worker one of those skipped years. An individual teacher would have to weigh his or her salary, pension size and other factors to see if doing that made sense.
In addition, someone who makes a relatively large salary might be able help his or her pension by retiring early because the new law caps the amount of a person's pay that can be used to calculate benefits at about $110,000.
Years where people already worked and made more than that wouldn't be subject to the cap, so retiring now could avoid it.
Still, Urbanek says, people have to weigh the details of the new law carefully. How fast a person's benefits grow in retirement is based on how long he or she works, so retiring early could have its downside in that case, too.
Bachman said his organization often received calls from teachers in previous years when lawmakers talked about changing pension rules because people wanted to know if it'd make sense to retire earlier than they planned.
This time, he said, people just want to know how the complicated new law would work.
“There's a large fear of the unknown,” Bachman said. “That's where the calls are coming from.”
How they voted
How suburban lawmakers voted on a package of public pension benefit cuts.
<b>YES</b>
Rep. Patti Bellock, Hinsdale Republican; Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, Aurora Democrat; Rep. Deborah Conroy, Elmhurst Democrat; Rep. Fred Crespo, Hoffman Estates Democrat; Rep. Scott Drury, Highwood Democrat; Rep. Jim Durkin, Western Springs Republican; Keith Farnham, Elgin Democrat; Rep. Kay Hatcher, Yorkville Republican; Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, Aurora Democrat; Rep. Michael McAuliffe, a Chicago Republican; Rep. Marty Moylan, Des Plaines Democrat; Rep. Michelle Mussman, Schaumburg Democrat; Rep. Elaine Nekritz, Northbrook Democrat; Rep. JoAnn Osmond, Antioch Republican; Rep. Dennis Reboletti, Elmhurst Republican; Rep. Ron Sandack, Downers Grove Republican; Rep. Darlene Senger, Naperville Republican; Rep. Carol Sente, Vernon Hills Democrat; Rep. Timothy Schmitz, Batavia Republican; Rep. Ed Sullivan, Mundelein Republican; Rep. Barbara Wheeler, Crystal Lake Republican; Kathleen Willis, Addison Democrat; Rep. Sam Yingling, Grayslake Democrat; Sen. Pamela Althoff, McHenry Republican; Sen. Michael Connelly, Lisle Republican; Sen. Don Harmon, Oak Park Democrat; Sen. Dan Kotowski, Park Ridge Democrat; Sen. Karen McConnaughay, St. Charles Republican; Sen. Julie Morrison, Deerfield Democrat; Sen. John Mulroe, Chicago Democrat; Sen. Matt Murphy, Palatine Republican; Sen. Jim Oberweis, Sugar Grove Republican; Sen. Christine Radogno, Lemont Republican
<b>NO</b>
Rep. Tom Cross, Oswego Republican; Rep. Mike Fortner, West Chicago Republican; Rep. Jack Franks, Marengo Democrat; Rep. David Harris, Arlington Heights Republican; Rep. Jeanne Ives, Wheaton Republican; Rep. Rita Mayfield, Waukegan Democrat; David McSweeney, Barrington Hills Republican; Rep. Tom Morrison, Palatine Republican; Sandra Pihos, Glen Ellyn Republican; Rep. Michael Tryon, Crystal Lake Republican; Sen. Melinda Bush, Grayslake Democrat; Sen. Tom Cullerton, Villa Park Democrat; Sen. Kirk Dillard, Hinsdale Republican; Sen. Dan Duffy, Lake Barrington Republican; Sen. Linda Holmes, Aurora Democrat; Sen. Terry Link, Waukegan Democrat; Sen. Michael Noland, Elgin Democrat