LAGERS Bloggers

Photo by maria pagan on Unsplash

 

LAGERS understands that the benefits we offer help tens of thousands of Missourians gain financial independence. We take our responsibility as caretakers of your money very seriously. LAGERS' Board of Trustees and staff are considered fiduciaries. This means we are legally obligated to act and make decisions that are in the best interest of our members and their beneficiaries. There are many specific things we do on a daily basis to help protect your money. Here are a few.

Tagged LAGERS Board, Retirement Security, Security, governance, Advocacy, prefunded, Financial Independence

Photo by Fabian Blank on Unsplash

• About half of Americans age 55 and older have nothing saved for retirement. However, 20% of these do have access to a defined benefit pension plan.
• Defined benefit pensions are the preferred retirement plan for state and local government employers.
• 39 employers have chosen LAGERS defined benefit plan for their employees within the last year. Almost all switched from a 401(k)-type plan.
• Defined benefit plans, like LAGERS, help government employers attract and retain good workers to serve the community.

 

Tagged 401(k), pensions, Security, Value of pensions, Retirement, Retire, Local Government, Missouri

 

 

Tagged pensions, secure retirement, Security, Financial security

This post was originally posted in August of 2017, and has been updated to reflect this year's COLA numbers.

 This year LAGERS retirees will receive a COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) of around 2.87%. This increase will be reflected on October 1st and it means much more than just a slight increase to your monthly benefit. It shows the strength and overall financial security of your LAGERS pension system.

Tagged Defined Benefit, COLA, Funding, Members, Retirees, Retirement, Security

k

Tagged cyber security, Security, personal information

I recently attended the National Association of State Retirement Administrators annual training conference. It’s very helpful to get together with peers and share successes and what’s working best with others across the country. It serves both as an affirmation of some things we’re doing very well and an inspiration of other practices we can employ to be even better. (At this point I’m sure you’re thinking, “Wow, I bet THAT’S a giant gathering of retirement nerds...and you would be right. But we're hard working, caring nerds, so it’s all good.) My desk now includes 4 pages of notes ranging from cybersecurity ideas for discussion, team/leadership development, to membership surveys. The information is only as good as the user, so my task is to explore each item to see how it might make our system even better.

Tagged Risk, Security, risk assesment, NASRA

My colleague Penny and I recently spent some time in Rolla to honor one of our long-standing members, Rolla Municipal Utilities employee Rosalie Spencer, who was celebrating 50 years with the organization with a lunch reception. Around 70 of Rosalie's friends, family and coworkers present and past were on hand to celebrate her accomplishment. "When I started here, I told them if they hired me I wanted to stay until I retire. And I am." Rosalie plans to retire at the end of April of this year, and because she has stayed for 50 years should be able to replace a sizable amount of her salary with her LAGERS benefit.

Tagged LAGERS, pensions, retiree, Retirement, Retirement Benefits, Retirement Security, Secure, secure retirement, Security, Financial security, Retirement, Retire

Tagged COLA, disability, Disability Benefits, Employers, Members, Prospective Members, Retirees, secure retirement, Security, Survivors Benefits, Public service, inflation

“I think ethics is the most exciting topic in the world to talk about,” said no one ever.

 

I know people who actually cringe when they discover a seminar or conference they will be attending has a session on ethics. Some professions require training in ethics—for example, those of us with a CPA license must obtain a whopping two hours of ethics training per year. (Thank you Enron, Arthur Anderson, etc…)

Tagged compliance, Defending Pensions, Defined Benefit, Getting it Right, Members, pensions, Retirement, retirement planning, Retirement Security, Secure, secure retirement, Security, Strategy, Goals, ethics

Photo by Garrhet Sampson on Unsplash

Goals are important. Every person and organization should set goals so they are constantly seeking to get better. This time of year people are thinking about their goals; some refer to these as New Year's Resolutions. It's a time to reset, recharge and prepare to run head first back into the fire of life.

Tagged Funding, Security, Service, Strategy, Goals