Your annuity savings account

Depending on what you do in your career and how long you live, either you or your survivors will receive all or a portion of your contributions and interest in the form of a refund, retirement allowance or survivor benefit.

The MTRS is a defined benefit plan, which means that your benefits are calculated according to a set formula. This formula considers your years of creditable service, age at the time of your retirement and your highest consecutive three years’ salary average. Your benefit is not based solely on your contributions and interest.

What happens to the money that I contribute to the 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 annually by the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC). The rate is equal to an average passbook savings return.

Additionally, if you have purchased creditable service, your payments will be included in your annuity savings account balance.

Will I eventually get this money back?

Generally, 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 become an inactive member who is eligible to receive a refund of your money, in other words, you leave public service in Massachusetts, 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 that 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.

How do I know how much money I have in my annuity savings account?

In the spring of every year, the MTRS sends a statement of account to all active and inactive members who have a balance in their annuity savings account. This statement reflects personal data (name, address, date of birth, beneficiary designation) as well as financial information regarding any activity in your account, the amounts of after-tax contributions, pre-tax contributions, interest and the total balance in the account as of the end of the previous calendar year.

You may request a statement of your annuity savings account balance any time during the year.

What is the difference between after-tax contributions and pre-tax contributions?

The difference is that you have already paid taxes on your after-tax contributions—and therefore you do not have to pay taxes on them again when you receive them in the form of a lump-sum payment or a retirement allowance—but you have not yet paid taxes on your pre-tax contributions and, so, you will have to pay taxes on those when you receive them.

Is the interest on my account considered a pre-tax or an after-tax amount?

All interest is paid on a pre-tax basis; as such, all interest is included in the taxable portion of your annuity savings account balance, which you may need to reference for tax purposes in the event you take a refund of your account.

How do I know what amount is nontaxable and what is taxable?

The MTRS will separate the taxable and nontaxable amounts on your annual statement.

As an active, contributing member, will I have access to the funds in my annuity savings account?

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.

Can the money in my account be assigned to someone else or attached by a third party?

No—you may not assign the funds in your account, nor may your account be garnished or attached by a lien or any other legal or equitable process except by the Internal Revenue Service, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue or, in the event of divorce, pursuant to a Domestic Relations Order. 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 of the money.

Likewise, your retirement allowance is subject to assignment only pursuant to court-ordered child support payments and in divorce cases, domestic relations orders.

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.

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 transferred to the system’s reserve fund, which ensures the future stability of the system.

Who manages the investment fund?

The Pension Reserves Investment Trust (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 Board (PRIM). PRIM’s mandate is to accumulate assets through investment earnings and other revenue sources in order to reduce the Commonwealth’s 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. For more information, visit PRIM’s website at www.mapension.com.