Many college and university faculty members work on nine-month contracts and, as such, are given the option of receiving their pay either over nine months or over the entire calendar year. Although many choose the latter, the authors of this article explain how opting for a nine-month pay period can significantly boost the size of a retirement…

The future of mandatory retirement is at least partly driven by changing demographics. In Canada, these demographics include slowing population growth, rapid aging, declining rates of labour force participation, and slowing labour force growth. After reviewing the demographic trends and considering alternate scenarios in labour force…

In the late 1990s, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation made grants to study people's attitudes toward retirement and to determine what factors influenced their decisions to retire. Although faculty were not talking to college administrators or human-resources departments about health care, the researchers found to their surprise that when they…

Discusses proposed Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) accounting standards requiring school districts to report liability associated with other post-employment benefits (OPEBs), such as health care, to future retirees and well as the status of efforts to fund those benefits. (PKP)

Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA) and College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), the largest pension system in the country, has lost its tax exemption, a change that has both created problems and opened doors to new ventures. TIAA-CREF is now seeking opportunities to manage state tuition-savings plans, and has also established six…

Trustees and administrators today confront one of two problems with post-retirement medical care. First, if institutions provide no support for their retirees' medical care, they implicitly offer a powerful incentive for senior faculty to stay on. The compensation and opportunity costs of this effect are obviously very high. But, second, if they…

The American Council on Education's 2-year process of investigation, study, and selection that resulted in the council's movement from TIAA/CREF as its only available retirement plan, to a total of 15 retirement options offered by two insured annuity companies and two mutual fund companies is described. (MLW)

As inflation becomes more severe, additional employers will be considering granting postretirement benefit increases. The decision-making model described here offers a conceptual frame of reference for determining whether an employer needs to grant such an increase, as well as the most appropriate method for implementing it. (CT)

Reports on changes at the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), the dominant force in the higher education pension market, to counter declining investment by younger professors. Changes include addition of retail mutual funds and making some products available to the general public. Critics…

As many teachers near their retirement years, they discover that their retirement plans are insufficient and their financial planning was inappropriate. This paper describes some of the problems with the 403(b) plan (an investment plan for public school employees and certain tax-exempt organizations), explaining how teachers are beginning to…

There is significant interest in reforming retirement plans for public school employees, particularly in light of current market conditions. This paper presents an overview of the various types of state regulation of public pension plans that affect possibilities for reform. Several states have legal protections that effectively prevent a state…

The circumstances arising out of Japanese pension plan practices are described. Recommendations are given. Appropriate preretirement education is recommended to assist Japanese workers who have long accepted the compulsory retirement system in planning for the future. (Author/CT)

Briefly outlines the reasons some school districts are withdrawing from the social security system. Also notes some advantages of the social security system over alternative plans. (IRT)

The social security commissioner argues that the system's varied protection--against loss of earnings due to death, disability, and even inflation--makes it a better deal than most private plans. (Author/IRT)

Uses one company's experience with its pension plan as an example of good communication with employees concerning the details and the value of benefit plans. (IRT)