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Home > Active members > FAQ: Your 2007 Annual Statement of Annuity Savings Account
  

FAQ: Your 2007 Annual Statement of Annuity Savings Account

Updated 06/09/2008

The first five digits of my Social Security number appear as Xs (XXX-XX-1234). What does this mean?

We deliberately printed only the last four digits of everyone’s Social Security number in an effort to protect our members against identity theft. Accordingly, the first five digits will appear as Xs.

Some of the information on my statement is out-of-date or incorrect. How should I submit the correction(s)?

As noted on the back of the insert that was enclosed with your statement, you should submit changes to your name, address and date of birth directly to your payroll office. Please contact the MTRS regarding all other corrections or questions. We will gladly accept most changes over the phone and via e-mail (annstmt@trb.state.ma.us).

To update or correct your...

Please...

Name or address

NOTIFY YOUR PAYROLL OFFICER--NOT THE MTRS. We receive this information directly from your employer; when your payroll officer sends us your retirement deductions, our database is automatically updated. In other words, if it's right with your employer, it will be right with us--and if it’s wrong with your employer, it will be wrong with us.

Note: If you are not currently employed, please notify the MTRS of these updates. Call us at 617-679-MTRS (6877), or e-mail us at annstmt@trb.state.ma.us.

Social Security number
(Note: To protect against identity theft, only the last four digits of your SSN are printed on your statement.)

CALL us at 617-679-MTRS (6877).
NOTE: Please do not notify us of this update via e-mail, as it is not a secure communication.

Date of birth, number of dependent children, veteran status, marital status, spouse’s date of birth, sex or financial data (Parts 2 and 3)

E-MAIL us at annstmt@trb.state.ma.us, or CALL us at 617-679-MTRS (6877).

Beneficiary

DOWNLOAD a Beneficiary Designation--Active Member form (2 pages; pdf) from our website, or
CALL us at 617-679-MTRS (6877), and request a Beneficiary Designation--Active Member form.

You are always welcome to submit your update or inquiry in writing. When writing, please:

  • Include your member number and only the last four digits of your Social Security number—not your entire SSN—on your correspondence.
  • Keep a copy of your correspondence and all attachments for your records.
  • Address your correspondence to our main office: MTRS, One Charles Park, Cambridge, MA 02142-1206, ATTN: Employer Services.
In Part 1, under “Name(s) of beneficiaries,” the message says “We have no beneficiary on file for you. Please see the enclosed insert for instructions on how to designate your beneficiary.” What should I do?

We included this message because we do not have a beneficiary on file for you. Accordingly, please complete and submit a Beneficiary Designation—Active Member form (pdf, 2 pages) at your earliest convenience. For more information, please see our page on Survivor benefits.

I am a military veteran. I read the information regarding Chapter 71 military service on the front of my statement. What other information do I need to know?

As a military veteran, you may be eligible to purchase credit for your military service. Please refer to our page regarding Chapter 71 military service to determine if you are eligible.

I have named more beneficiaries than are listed on my statement. Why don’t all names appear?

Because of space limitations, we cannot print all types and names of beneficiaries. As explained on the back of your statement, if you have designated:

  • a member-survivor beneficiary only, his or her name only will appear.
  • one or more lump-sum beneficiaries only, depending on the number of beneficiaries you have named, up to four names will appear. Please note that the order of your beneficiaries as printed on your statement is random. In other words, if you have designated primary and contingent beneficiaries, your contingent beneficiaries may be listed before your primary beneficiaries. Please be assured that your benficiaries are coded as “primary” or “contingent” in our records, and how they are listed on your statement does not reflect their actual beneficiary status.
  • both a member-survivor beneficiary and one or more lump-sum beneficiaries, only the member-survivor beneficiary’s name will appear.

If you have not designated a beneficiary or you need to update your current designation, please download a Beneficiary Designation--Active Member form (2 pages; pdf), or call us at 617-679-MTRS (6877), and request this form.

I misplaced the insert I received with my 2007 statement. Can you please provide me with another copy?

Yes, you may download the insert here: About your 2007 annual statement (pdf, 2 pages)

What happens to the money that I contribute to the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System?

Your school district forwards your contributions to us and we establish and maintain an annuity savings account on your behalf for your retirement. Your MTRS annuity savings account consists of two parts:

  • contributions, which are deducted from your paycheck by your school district and
  • interest, which is earned on your prior year’s ending balance and credited at a rate determined by the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC). The rate is equal to an average passbook savings return.

The contributions from active members are pooled and invested for the MTRS by the Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board in the Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIT) Fund. The interest you earn on your balance does not reflect the MTRS fund’s actual investment return. The fund’s excess investment return is held in the system's reserve fund, which ensures the future stability of the system.

Why is the interest rate I earn on my MTRS account lower than the returns generally earned on investments?

This interest rate bears no relationship to the actual return earned on the annuity savings fund; rather, it is an “artificial” rate of interest established by the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC). By law, this rate is determined by the average interest rate paid on individual savings accounts, which is obtained from a representative sample of financial institutions in Massachusetts.

After individual members’ annuity savings accounts are credited with interest, the trust account's “excess earnings” are reinvested in the Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIT) to ensure the pension fund's stability.

Who manages the investment fund?

The Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIT, a pooled investment fund established to invest the pension reserve assets of the Massachusetts State Employees’ and Teachers’ Retirement Systems) is managed by the Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board. PRIM's mandate is to accumulate assets through investment earnings and other revenue sources in order to reduce the Commonwealth's significant unfunded pension liability and to assist local participating retirement systems in meeting their future pension obligations.

The PRIM Board consists of nine elected and appointed members, including a representative of the MTRS and an elected member of the MTRS.

For additional information on the investment fund, contact: Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board at 617-946-8401.

As an active, contributing member, do I have access to the funds in my account? Can I direct how the funds are invested?

The answer to both questions is no. Your annuity savings account is not a personal bank account or an individual retirement account. As someone who is actively contributing to the MTRS through regular payroll deductions or who is on an authorized leave of absence, you are not eligible to withdraw any portion of your annuity savings account balance. Likewise, you may not borrow money from your account or assign your account, nor may your account be attached by a lien, except by the Internal Revenue Service or the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. The funds must remain in your account with the MTRS until you retire, die, or become an inactive member who is eligible to receive a refund.

Will I eventually get this money back?

Generally, at some point and in some form, yes. Depending on what you do in your career and how long you live, you or your survivor will receive all or a portion of your contributions and interest.

The funds in your annuity savings account will be paid out to you or your survivor when one of the following occurs:

  • you retire from the MTRS and receive a retirement allowance, or
  • you leave public service in Massachusetts and become eligible to receive a refund, or
  • you die while you are an active member, in which case the MTRS will pay a benefit to your survivor.

If you leave our system for employment with another Massachusetts public agency which requires your membership in its retirement system, we cannot refund your balance; in that event, we must transfer your funds directly to that other Massachusetts contributory retirement system.

Note: The law provides certain forfeiture provisions in the event you are convicted of a criminal offense involving your job.