Retirement
Educators deserve a secure retirement after dedicating their careers to student success. MEA is here to protect that retirement and help to navigate choices school employees need to make along the way.
Retirement benefits are a large part of a total compensation package. Not understanding retirement plans can cause an individual to lose out on financial benefits like a pension.
Important Facts New Hires Need to Know About Retirement:
By law, newly hired school employees have 75 days from their first payroll date to choose a retirement plan. Those that do not actively choose a plan within this window are considered to have elected the Defined Contribution (DC) plan by default – and that plan selection cannot be changed. MEA has created a guide to help understand this important decision, and offers training for all new school employees (regardless of MEA membership) to help understand the various choices.
Working after Retirement
UPDATED AUG. 2024 – Laws governing Michigan school employee pensions are complex and frequently changing. MEA is committed to providing you with quality information to help make decisions that protect both your retirement and your memberships in MEA and NEA. Members interested in learning more about the current Working After Retirement rules and regulations should read MEA’s Working After Retirement: Protecting Your Pension and Your MEA/NEA Membership document.
Need Assistance?
MEA can help members in good standing with retirement issues. Contact your local MEA Uniserv office for assistance.
Retirement News
Whitmer, lawmakers and MEA retirees celebrate rollback of pension tax
Retired middle school science teacher Isabell Nazar of Homer, a board member of MEA-Retired, testified before the Legislature in support of eliminating the retirement tax. Retired educator Isabell Nazar could not mathematically pinpoint the positive effects of a new law that will save her pension from being taxed; instead the former 38-year middle school science teacher from rural Homer in…
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: Retired educator still uses movement to teach children
Opal Wong left the classroom in 1994 after 37 years in East Lansing schools, but the MEA-Retired educator and certified Brain Gym instructor never stopped using movement to teach children. Now 90, she shares how knowing the brain-body connection can help educators help young people. Did you always want to be a teacher? I never wanted to be a teacher;…
Educators celebrate power of mentorship through timeless story of James Earl Jones
By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor At eight years old, Sid Halley learned his great-grandfather had mentored a young James Earl Jones to overcome a debilitating stutter and develop into a world-renowned and beloved actor – and he marveled that his mom’s grandpa taught Darth Vader of “Star Wars” fame. As he grew up, Halley – an MEA-Retired former bus…
Changes to post-retirement return to work rules signed into law
Gov. Whitmer has signed a bill making important changes to the post-retirement employment window and earnings limits for school retirees who choose to return to work. House Bill 4752 (now Public Act 147 of 2023), introduced by Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth), shortens the waiting period for a retiree with a bona fide retirement to work at a school from nine…
Pension tax repeal on deck, Whitmer and legislative leaders announce
Editor’s note: Lawmakers need to hear from you! Please take a few minutes to contact your state senator and representative and urge them to support Gov. Whitmer's proposal to repeal the unfair tax on retired educators' pensions. After a long 11 years, retired educators may soon experience relief from the unfair retirement tax imposedon them by former lawmakers, Gov. Gretchen…
Appeals Court Denies Interest in 3% Case
The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that school employees who had 3 percent of their salary illegally withheld by the state from 2010-12 are not entitled to be paid additional interest on the money. The decision is the latest twist in a long-running legal saga that grew out of the 3 percent case, which public education employees won in…
NEW HIRES: Sign Up for Free MEA Training on Mandatory Retirement Selection
If you are a brand new school employee, or know someone who is, be aware that state law requires newly hired school employees in Michigan to select between two retirement plan choices within 75 days after their first payroll date—or the state will choose for them. And once a selection is made, it can’t be changed. Retirement benefits are a…
Opinion: Pouring pensions into potholes is too great a risk
A pension is a promise of a secure retirement. But too often in Lansing, they’re viewed as piggy banks to be broken into for political purposes. As a young educator, I remember then-Gov. John Engler diverting state payments from the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System to fund other priorities — which accelerated us down a road of unfunded pension liabilities.…