NEW MEMBERS

Welcome!

Your new teaching position means you are now a member of TRA, a pension plan that serves Minnesota public education professionals. Together with Social Security and your personal savings, your TRA pension is a key piece of your financial future.

What you need to know now

When you experience a big life event, it’s a good idea to check in with TRA about benefits such as leave purchase, service credit purchase for part-time teaching, and setting up your survivor (beneficiary) arrangements.

Next steps

• Register for a MyTRA account. Update your mailing and email addresses.
• Name your beneficiary or beneficiaries so TRA knows who should receive your contributions in the event of your death.  This form can be downloaded from the forms section of your MyTRA account.

What is a TRA pension?

TRA is a defined-benefit pension plan, which differs from a 403(b) or 401(k) because you receive a predictable retirement benefit for your lifetime, not an account balance that you might outlive. With TRA:

• Membership is automatic. From your first day of employment with a TRA-covered employer, you are a member of TRA.
• Savings are automatic. During your teaching years, a percentage is deducted from every paycheck for your retirement.
• It’s easy. Contributions from you and your employer are pooled with all state public pension fund assets. The State Board of Investment manages these assets and the risk so you don’t have to.
• Contributions are pretax. This reduces your taxable income.
• Job change? No worries. If you stay employed in city, county or state government in Minnesota, you can keep your money at TRA and continue to accrue public-sector service credit toward your eventual pension.

Contribution Rates

Vesting

You are “vested” in the TRA plan after three years of service. Once you’re vested, you have earned enough service credit to be eligible for TRA benefits.

Service Credit

Service credit affects eligibility for benefits and benefit amount. Paid sick leave, vacation days and all required attendance days and hours (such as workshops) count toward service credit. TRA allows no more than one year of service during any fiscal year. Service credit for part-time teachers, extracurricular pay, retro pay, and summer pay is prorated.

Benefits and Options

LEAVES OF ABSENCE

There are several types, including sabbatical, medical, parental, family, extended, legislative, military. You may purchase service credit for the aforementioned leave types.

PART-TIME TEACHING

If you’re currently working full time (1.0 FTE) but plan to work part time, you may be eligible to purchase full-time service credit toward your pension if you meet eligibility requirements.

DISABILITY

Available to those with at least three years of service who become disabled.

SURVIVOR BENEFITS

Certain benefits are available to your survivor(s) if you die before retiring with the TRA pension plan.

REFUNDS

If you leave teaching, you may opt for a refund. The refund consists of all your employee contributions plus interest, compounded annually. Partial refunds are not permitted. Your employer’s matching contributions remain with TRA and are not included in the refund.