By Jo Schaffer, Officer for Retiees
No, RIT does not refer to a college located in Rochester nor is it a mistaken set of initials for RIP or RPI another college further east!
It refers to the common definition of a UUP active member as a RETIREE IN TRAINING. This is a term that comes from common usage that the UUP Committee (Retired Membership Governing Committee…formerly COARM) concerned with UUP Retiree issues has used for years. You might think that this UUP statewide committee, representing over 6500 active UUP retirees, is only concerned in enlarging and protecting retiree benefits. Not at all!
We are very concerned that you, as RITs, are aware and prepared for the years following your active service. If you think this is a premature concern, please remember that one of the most important documents you signed when you completed your first introduction to SUNY paper contract bureaucracy was your commitment to a retirement pension plan. Whether you committed to a state plan, such as ERS or TRS, or an ORP (other retirement plan) such as TIAA, or the others offered, you were considered to be an RIT.
I do hope you have taken the opportunity to participate in the frequently offered Retirement Information UUP ZOOM meetings hosted by Walter Apple, UUP’s Retiree Member Benefits Coordinator. It is never too soon to take advantage of Walter’s extensive knowledge in preparing for your eventual retirement. The UUP RMGC statewide committee offers not only regional but local campus sources of information. You can download from the UUP Webpage a great booklet, Organizing Your Vital Information, to put into an easily accessible format for you and your beneficiaries. Additionally, you should periodically update your UUP beneficiary information; it’s easy to do! I can relate sorry histories about some families’ beneficiaries that were not corrected or updated.
Advice from an old retiree: keep your dental work up to date while you are an insurance covered active member. Go into retirement with an appetite and a full set of working choppers.
And in the good news department: Every budget year, the governor tries to insert some anti-retiree issues. Every year, UUP actively fights to have them removed. As of April 1, the budget has not yet been approved but we have, I hope, kept the Standard Medicare Part B Reimbursement where the state provides full reimbursement of the standard premium to eligible state retirees; additionally, IRMAA will continue to reimburse additional premiums paid by higher income state retirees; and state employees retiring on or after October 1, 2021 will not have to contribute a higher care insurance premium. That is your union continuing to advocate on your behalf.
