 OCTOBER | VOLUME 145
 National
Retirement Security Week is a national effort to raise public
awareness about the importance of saving for retirement and is held every year during the third week of October. The week
provides an opportunity for employees to reflect on their personal retirement
goals and determine if they are on target to reach those goals.
The Division of Retirement and Benefits and a plan sponsor,
Empower Retirement, invite you to take advantage of the educational
events offered
during NRSW week. To review this week’s detailed events schedule or
to sign-up for participation, click here.
Training
The Division of Retirement and Benefits is sponsoring
training in a question-answer format for participating employers through Web Ex
on Wednesday, October 11, 2017. Employers will receive an invitation from
Roberto Aceveda, Counseling and Benefit Education Manager, to attend a Web Ex
meeting. Employers can also contact Roberto directly at roberto.aceveda@alaska.gov.
The invitation is open and can be forwarded to all interested employees who are
involved in the hiring process.
Update on the Effective Date of the Regulations
The public notice period for
the bona fide separation of employment regulations will end at 5:00 pm on
October 20, 2017. Comments can be sent to the Division address or emailed
to Kathy Lea, Chief Pension Officer, at kathy.lea@alaska.gov.
Stay tuned for upcoming information on the effective date of
the regulations on bona fide separation of employment in the November edition
of the Employer News. The regulations are tentatively effective for
members retiring December 1, 2017, however, that date may change depending on
the public comment received during the public notice period. The public
notice period will end at 5:00 pm on October 20, 2017. Comments can be
sent to the Division address or emailed to Kathy Lea, Chief Pension Officer, at
kathy.lea@alaska.gov
If you first entered the PERS on or after July 1, 1986 (Tier
II or Tier III), and if you receive a higher salary based on the cost of living
in a geographic region, then you will make contributions to the PERS based on
that increased salary. This cost of living adjustment can only be
applied to the time a person serves in State of Alaska employment.
You must serve one-half of your service time in an area with
differential pay for that salary to count towards your retirement calculation.
If you haven’t met this requirement, then the contributions based on the
differential portion of your salary will be refunded when you retire. (For Tier-1 PERS members Geographic
Differential is included in your Average Monthly Salary).
Special note: The
calculation of the percentage of service with differential is calculated on
all membership service accrued, including non-state PERS service.
The annual NCSSSA conference serves as a major forum
to address a broad range of issues and concerns of state and local employers
and SSSAs. It allows SSSAs to work efficiently and effectively with our
Federal Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
partners about these matters and solve issues.
The NCSSSA annual conference always involves the
discussion of topics of current interest and importance to state and federal
officials involved in state and local Social Security, Medicare, and employment
tax matters.
This year’s conference was held in Charleston, West
Virginia, September 9-13th. The training portion of the conference included
presentations on Public vs. Private Entities, Covering Police and Firefighters,
Correction of Errors/W2, W3, and 941X Forms, IRS Field Audit Issues, and
Section 218 Agreements and Newly or Reclassified Positions.
The Alaska SSSA
served on three NCSSSA committees this past year; Chair Audit Committee, Member
Program Committee, and Member Executive Committee.
|
