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

Wondering what you'll do in retirement? With LAGERS lifetime benefit, you'll have the foundation to dream big and live a stable, secure retirement. And perhaps have some fun along the way! One of our retirees, Dixie Gunnett, sent us some pictures of what retirement is like for her. She's been retired from Jefferson County Sheriff's Office since September of 2014 and has been busy living out the next chapter of her life her way. Here's her story in her own words, and pictures.

Tagged Retirees, Retirement Security, Secure, secure retirement, Retirement, Retire, women in retirement

Whether it’s your first day on the job, or you’re a seasoned local government pro, you may feel a little overwhelmed when it comes to understanding your LAGERS benefit.  While there a many facets to how your benefit works, here are five simple themes every LAGERS member should know.

 

1. Your Hard Work Pays Off

LAGERS benefit calculation is pretty simple: work longer, earn more income in retirement.  That’s easy enough, but because you accrue service, and not an account balance, it can sometimes be difficult to visualize the true value of your LAGERS benefit.  LAGERS offers many different tools to help you estimate your future benefit, but know that each month you work, your future financial security grows - and that future monthly income will add up over a lifetime!

Tagged Disability Benefits, Funding, Retirement Security, Working after Retirement, state of the system, separating from employment, prefunded

Did you recently find out you are going to receive a tax refund? Did you immediately think about what you could spend the money on? Maybe the things you are planning on spending your tax refund on are constructive, like car repairs, home repairs, pay off some credit card debt or others. However, it’s hard not to be tempted to spend that refund money on something fun, right?

Tagged Retirement Security, Savings, taxes, Financial security, Financial Independence

We are definitely in the spirit on this day to remember those you love. We love our members, and are members are showing us the love by letting us know how grateful they are for their LAGERS benefit.

Tagged Members, Payout Options, PLUS, Retirees, Retirement Security

We love to hear from our members. Recently we received a lovely letter from Diane McKiddy, a retiree from Chiliicothe Municipal Utilities, where she worked for over 47 years!

Tagged Retirement Benefits, Retirement Security, Retirement, Retire, Local Government, local government hero award

In 2013, the City of Webster Groves joined the Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement System (LAGERS), a statewide public defined benefit retirement plan covering local government workers from all across Missouri. This is our story of why and how we made this giant leap forward in providing retirement benefits to our employees, and, we believe, in ultimately enhancing service to our citizens.

Tagged Defined Contribution, Retirement Security, value of local government, Value of pensions, Retirement, Retire, cities, Local Government, Missouri

I recently sat down with Bob Wilson, LAGERS Director, to hear about our new funding level and how it matters to our employers and our members.

Tagged Investment Return, Funding, Investments; Return; LAGERS Portfolio, Retirement Security, secure retirement, LAGERS performance, Financial security, stock market, Sound Funding

Our guest blogger Katie Hunze from Jefferson County explains what is involved in a LAGERS on-site Pre-Retirement Seminar and how they can help employees understand their benefit.

Jefferson County hosted its first Pre-Retirement Seminar in April; open to all our employees. We were pleased to have 95 employees for our first attempt. Our vision is to ensure that whether retirement is five years or twenty-five years away, all employees should have a solid understanding of what they’re working towards every single day. We appreciate and value all of our public servants and want them to be able to enjoy the retirement that they have worked so hard for! Retirement benefits are covered during our new hire orientation but that can be somewhat overwhelming and this seminar allowed us to focus on the specific topic of retirement.

Tagged Pre-Retirement Seminars, Retirement Benefits, Retirement Security, secure retirement, Retirement, Retire, Local Government

 

Let’s think about these two words for a moment…”covet” (to yearn to possess or have something) vs. “begrudge” (to envy or resent the good fortune of someone, to be unhappy or upset because someone has something you think they do not deserve).

Tagged pensions, Retirement Security, Value of pensions, Pension Health, Financial security, Retirement plans, Retirement, Retire