DIVISIONNEWS RETIRED MEMBERS (continued) your gas, how to avoid roadblocks, and how to find a shortcut. When you drive it is your responsibility to stay awake, get out of the car and exercise from time to time (stay healthy and alert), and make decisions about where you go next. It is also your job to maintain the running order on the vehicle. Keep your job! That’s your vehicle! If you attended the sessions with Alicia, Mike, and Chase you may have found some interesting facts about where you are going financially. Not all educators are vested in Social Security. If the only job you have experienced in your life is in a school system that opted out of Social Security, you are not vested. But, you only need 40 points or 10 years of work paying Social Security taxes to be vested. To see if you are vested, open a MySocialSecurity account at www.ssa.gov to view your annual Social Security statement. Social Security Retirement benefits are meant to be a supplement to your main retirement income. That last sentence is key to understanding Social Security Retirement Benefits. TRS is your chosen pay amount from the State of Georgia upon your retirement. TRS is very sound financially. There are options in your pay for you and your designated loved ones to make regarding your pay received upon retirement. Each person decides the amount and deductions based upon option choices. Contact TRS about five years before your planned destination: Retirement City. Be aware that once decisions made are actually put on paper as a contract, the contract is iron-clad after your first check. Personal financial planning is determined by each of us. Seek good professional advice. The financial planners have a vested interest in your being successful. Know what is going on with your personal finances. When you arrive at Retirement City you are going to need some cash for ever-present expenses to enjoy what you like in your life. There is a good chance there will be health surprises for you or family members that will require more money for solving those problems. Chase advises to be prepared for that by having an additional “emergency fund” set aside each pay period, not to be touched unless there is an emergency. This is not the same as a savings account. He also advises investing some of the income. The goal is a balanced portfolio that will exist longer than your lifetime. He also advises that each person should follow the finances one month, then review the findings. How much money is going to Starbucks, for example? How much for “eating out” is spent each month? What is happening with moneys earned? Are you are responsible steward of your income? We all hope to be able to reach Retirement City without financial worries. It is possible to live on less income, but we must manage our finances wisely along the road as we travel with knowledge coupled with sound advice. Most of us are not aware of what our incomes will be when we retire. If we ask the right people, the information is available. Next year, there will be more sessions on Retirement to help all who are in attendance plan for their financial security. If you think about it, planning for retirement should start on “day 1” of work. For most of us, our drive started in a second-hand car that we hoped we could “make do” until we could afford a new one. The destination point
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georgia music news // spring 2018
was far away when we started this drive, and the teaching trials and tribulations along our road might make us want to take another route. Some will do that. But the goals of retirement remain the same. If you see this road of teaching to the end, maintain your vision of arriving at Retirement City. Be ready for it when you arrive. There’s a party waiting for you there. It’s your life again! So, who are the Retirement Sessions intended to reach? All who are in attendance at the In-Service! Happy Travels! CONTACT INFO: Teachers Retirement System of Georgia – trsga.com (You will need your member number.) Social Security – ssa.gov (You will need your Social Security number.) Chase Burkhart (Captrust Financial Advisors) – chase.burkhart@ captrustadvisors.com 813-218-5000 (You will be asked questions about your financial status. Have questions of your concerns to ask as well.)
ORCHESTRA DIVISION Dr. Bernadette Scruggs I have to admit that having our events in Athens does not offer the same sort of ambiance as looking over the river in Savannah between sessions, but this year, for the first time since we have completely moved locations, I am starting to enjoy our “new” conference/ All-State site. The restaurant and hotel selection is great and almost everything is available within walking distance. I suppose the key is familiarity and we’ve now been in Athens long enough for me (a non-UGA graduate) to develop some of that. Now that the largest tasks of the GMEA yearand all of my associated travels- are behind me, my next step is to take time to reflect over the year to determine what was effective and what might need an overhaul before next year. Conference is always one of my favorite times of the year. This year, I loved having the opportunity to observe Dr. Nathaniel Parker work with the conductors from our sight-reading orchestra. I’m so impressed at everyone who was brave enough to put their conducting skills on display in front of peers. At our schools, we ARE the experts, but in front of a room full of music educators, it certainly demonstrates a desire to improve technique if you allow someone to observe and make comments. Though I thought all of the conference sessions were excellent, I particularly enjoyed the interactive element of Dr. Richard Bell’s session. Being in a small discussion group with teachers of varying experience levels from around the state not only helped me know some of the faces I see but could not identify, but also gave me such differing perspective on the situations we debated. A number of string and full orchestras apply to perform at conference each year. The groups who perform are chosen by a (blind) selection committee. It’s rather disappointing to me to see that, despite all the work it takes to bring a group to perform at our conference, the