Some of the information on my statement is out of date or incorrect.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

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 with a Massachusetts school district, 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 e-mail is not a secure means of communication.
Parts 2: Financial dataE-MAIL us at annstmt@trb.state.ma.us, or CALL us at 617-679-MTRS (6877).
BeneficiaryDOWNLOAD a Beneficiary Designation--Active Member form pdf format of Beneficiary designation form—Active member

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

  • Include your member number—not your 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.

I either do not have a beneficiary on file with the MTRS or want to update my designation. What do I need do?

Simply complete and submit a Beneficiary Designation--Active member form pdf format of Beneficiary designation form—Active member at your earliest convenience. For more information, please see our page on Survivor benefits.

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 beneficiaries 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 pdf format of Beneficiary designation form—Active member .

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.

How is the interest rate on my MTRS account determined?

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 (PRIM) Board. 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 two representatives of the MTRS (one appointed and one elected). For more information, visit PRIM online.

As an active, contributing member, will I have access to the funds in my 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.

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, unless you were a member of more than one contributory retirement system (a "dual member") on or after January 1, 2010.