In The News

Mar. 2, 2010 admin
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Articles, Posts, Commentary and Reports on CalSTRS Pension and Defined Benefit Programs

Review news articles, reports and other published materials on CalSTRS Defined Benefit Programs and related pension news and information. For all general CalSTRS news and media resources, visit CalSTRS Newsroom.

CalSTRS Lowers Investment Return Assumption

Feb. 2, 2012 William Yee
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Move is part of a larger experience study updating assumptions to June 30, 2011.

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – The governing board of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) today adopted a new set of actuarial assumptions, including lowering the investment return assumption from 7.75 percent to 7.5 percent. The change is part of a four-year experience analysis that sets the parameters for determining the financial health of the system.

Questions Answered on Post-Retirement Earnings Changes

Jan. 27, 2012 Chad Christman
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EdCal asked Ed Derman of the California State Teachers Retirement System to respond to a number of frequently asked questions concerning the June 30 sunset date of exemptions for post-retirement earnings limitations.

CalSTRS Calendar Year-End Investment Returns Show Slight Gains

Jan. 24, 2012 Chad Christman
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Tumultuous 2011 Ends With CalSTRS Investments Returns Slightly Positive

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – Investment returns for the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) ended the 2011 calendar year posting a 2.3 percent gain, in a year of extreme market volatility.

CalSTRS Opens Member Center in Glendale

Jan. 4, 2012 William Yee
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WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) today announced the opening of its first full-service member center outside of the West Sacramento headquarters.

CalSTRS Helps Educators Make Sense of Investment Options

Dec. 30, 2011 William Yee
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In this video interview from Pensions & Investments, Julia Durand, director of the CalSTRS Pension2 program and president of NAGDCA, discusses innovations introduced by CalSTRS, including the Pension2 "Easy Choice Portfolios" and the "403(b) + 457(b) Information Portal."

CalSTRS Responds to Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research Report on California’s Pensions

Dec. 13, 2011 William Yee
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WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) responded today to a report issued by the Institute for Economic Policy Research at Stanford University.

CalSTRS Needs Long-term Funding Fix

Dec. 10, 2011 William Yee
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North County Times

The introduction of Gov. Jerry Brown's 12-point pension plan and a series of legislative hearings are fueling a robust discussion on pension reform in California.

As this debate wages on, it is easy to associate reports of payout abuses and overly generous benefits with all public pension systems. Consequently, there is a tendency to look at every plan with the same critical eye and reason that all public pension systems must be reformed in the same way.

Read more at North County Times

Public School Educators Elect CalSTRS Trustees

Dec. 7, 2011 William Yee
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WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) today announced the election of three members to the CalSTRS governing board by current public school educators.

Glitzy Pensions? Not for Teachers

Dec. 7, 2011 William Yee
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Ventura County Star

Ventura Star columnist Timm Herdt makes a well-reasoned case for how CalSTRS is different and why it’s adequate funding is necessary for the ongoing retirement security of California’s educators.

Herdt: Glitzy pensions? Not for teachers

With 1,200 members, Ventura County has one of the more active divisions of the California Retired Teachers Association. They're not a glamorous bunch.

The group holds its regular meetings in the basement of a retirement home. On the half-dozen occasions a year it puts on luncheons, it eschews pricey hotels and holds them instead at a banquet room at a municipal golf course.

Read more at the Ventura County Star

CalSTRS Releases Analysis of Governor’s Pension Reform Proposal

Dec. 2, 2011 William Yee
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WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – CalSTRS Staff drafted an analysis of the Governor’s 12-point pension reform proposal, which Deputy CEO Ed Derman presented to the Conference Committee on Public Employee Pensions at its December 1, 2011 hearing. The CalSTRS Board has not taken a position on the Governor’s pension reform proposal.

Pension Committee

Governor Announces Appointments to CalSTRS Board

Nov. 30, 2011 William Yee
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Governor Brown announced Wednesday the appointment of Michael Lawson and Paul Rosenstiel to the Teachers’ Retirement Board, which oversees the retirement benefits for California’s K-12 and Community College educators covered under CalSTRS.

Another View: CalSTRS is Seeking Predictable Funding

Nov. 21, 2011 William Yee
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The Sacramento Bee

Since the recession, when the teachers' retirement fund lost $43.4 billion in value, CalSTRS has said the fund cannot invest its way back to financial health. The discussion of CalSTRS' funding situation has picked up steam since, as nonpartisan entities such as the Legislative Analyst's Office and Bureau of State Audits raised similar concerns, often using CalSTRS' analyses and cost projections.

Read more at The Sacramento Bee

CalSTRS Adopts Policy on Corporate Political Contributions Disclosure

Nov. 4, 2011 William Yee
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The policy makes identifying corporate expenditures easier for shareholders.

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) adopted a policy calling for portfolio companies to annually report their expenditures on political contributions.

Study Finds Pensions Improve Quality of California’s Public Education System, Reduce Turnover Costs

Nov. 1, 2011 William Yee
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Pensions helped retain 1,825 California teachers, saving the state more than $26 million

WEST SACRAMENTO, CA – A national study analyzing the effectiveness of defined benefit pensions on teacher retention and productivity found that pensions play a critical role in recruiting and retaining highly productive California teachers.

The Three Rs of Teacher Pension Plans: Recruitment, Retention, and Retirement

Nov. 1, 2011 William Yee
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A study by the National Institute on Retirement Security finds that defined benefit pensions play a critical role in recruiting and retaining highly productive teachers.

Read the full report at NIRSOnline.org

CalSTRS Response to Governor Brown’s 12-point Pension Reform Proposal

Oct. 27, 2011 William Yee
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CalSTRS appreciates that Governor Brown has taken a very important step in addressing the critical and complex issues facing the state’s public pension systems. We look forward to receiving more detail on the proposal and having the opportunity to review it in depth.

CalSTRS Clarifies Effect of Proposed GASB Accounting Rules for State Legislators

Oct. 25, 2011 William Yee
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On Tuesday, October 25, CalSTRS CEO Jack Ehnes sent a letter to the members of the California State Assembly and Senate in order to clarify issues and address concerns regarding the effect new accounting rules set by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) may have on how the CalSTRS pension fund liabilities are reported.

Read the letter »

Lost in Pension Debate: CalSTRS

Oct. 24, 2011 William Yee
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Press Democrat

As has been discussed at length on these pages, taxpayers have reason to be vexed by the funding crisis that confronts public pension plans at almost every level. Unfortunately, and often unfairly, the California State Teachers Retirement System, which oversees the retirement benefits of 850,000 current and retired teachers and community college instructors, gets lumped into this debate about Cadillac benefits and irresponsible payouts. By and large, it shouldn't be.

Read more at the Press Democrat

Study: Young People More Likely to Retire in Poverty

Oct. 10, 2011 William Yee
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A study published recently by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education examines the fiscal consequences of the decline in secure retirement plans offered by California employers. The study calls for prompt action to keep millions of California workers from retiring in poverty.

Read the report: Meeting California’s Retirement Security Challenge

Analysis: New Plans May Not Save Public Pensions

Oct. 10, 2011 William Yee
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As some states consider pension changes that include shifts to defined contribution plans, a new study finds that employees strongly prefer traditional, defined benefit plans and that the costs of defined contribution plans are actually greater for employers.

Read more at Reuters