|
Retirement
Kevin Morrison
Director
200 Pleasant Street, Room 222
(781) 397-7086
(781) 397-7358 (Fax)
The Malden Retirement Board has approximately 1500 members of whom
860 are active members, and the remaining 640 are retired members. The
Board is comprised of five members as follows: Ex-officio member, Domenic
Fermano, Controller(Chairman); two elected members, Doug Eisnor, Police
Officer and Warren Atkinson, Captain Fire Department; Joanne Croken,
Comm. of Mass. Forestry Division appointed by the Mayor; and Ronald
Hogan, Vice President of Putnam Investments elected by the Board. The
Retirement Board Director is Kevin D. Morrison.
The Malden Retirement Board is a defined benefit plan which is governed
by MGL Chapter 32 and is overseen by the Public Employee Retirement
Administration Commision. A defined benefit plan is one where the members
contribute a certain percent of wages each payroll and the benefits
upon retirement are pre-determined via law (formula).
To retire an employee whose membership began prior to January 1, 1978 must attain age 55. There are no minimum service requirements for members in this category. If membership began on or after January 1, 1978 you must have at least ten years of creditable service and be age 55 or older to be eligible to receive a retirement allowance. You are also eligible to retire at any age if you have twenty years of creditable service.
A public employee retirement allowance consists of two parts, an annuity and a pension. The annuity portion comes from the contributions that are deducted during the course of your creditable service and deposited in an annuity savings fund in your name by the Retirement Board. The interest that accrues on these contributions is credited to your account. That part of your retirement allowance that is based on the total amount in your annuity savings account on the date of your retirement is the annuity. The pension portion of your retirement benefit is the difference between the total retirement allowance specified by law and the amount provided by employee contributions.
A normal retirement is called “Superannuation” which means the process of being retired upon reaching a certain age and meeting other requirements, including, in most cases length of creditable service.
The amount of your retirement allowance depends on the following: . Your age . Your length of creditable service . The amount of your average annual rate of regular compensation and your group classification
Group classifications are assigned by the Board by the type of occupation, position, or duties the employee was hired to perform. Boards designate employees to one of four specific groups based upon the classification set out in section three of M.G.L. Chapter 32.
. Group 1 members are officials and general employees including clerical, administrative and technical workers, laborers, mechanics, and all other not otherwise classified.
. Group 2 includes employees with hazardous occupations, such as licensed electricians, ambulance attendants and mental health hospital attendants.
. Group 3 is made up of state police officers
. Group 4 consists of public safety officers, officials, and employees, such as police officers and firefighters, and certain correction officers.
Upon retirement one of three options must be chosen by the retiree they are as follows:
. Option A Election of Option A means that you will receive your full retirement allowance in monthly payments as long as you live. All allowance payments will cease upon your death and no benefits will be provided for your survivors.
. Option B provides you with a lifetime allowance which is 3% to 5% less per month than Option A. The annuity portion of you allowance is reduced to allow a benefit for your beneficiary. Upon your death, your surviving beneficiary of record, or if there is no beneficiary living, the persons appearing in the judgment of your retirement board to be entitled thereto will be paid the unexpended balance of your accumulated total deductions form the annuity reserve account.
. Option C is also known as the joint and last survivor allowance. Selecting this option means that the allowance payments that you would receive during your lifetime would be approximately 20% less than those you would receive under Option A. Upon your death, your designated beneficiary will be paid a monthly allowance for the remainder of his or her lifetime. That allowance will be equal to two-thirds of the allowance which was being paid to you at the time of your death.
Retirement can be a complex subject with a broad scope and range. Many subjects have not been reviewed in this brief web site summary, such as membership requirements, retirement calculations, survivor benefits, disability retirements, refunds and many more. The Malden Retirement Board has guides about retirement benefits that can be obtained by contacting the Board.
Mr. Joseph Connarton the Executive Director of the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission states “In order to achieve the goal of a secure and comfortable retirement, every active employee must plan for the long-term and formulate a sound financial strategy, PERAC and the Commonwealth Public Employee retirement systems are working together to provide all members with clear accurate and up to date information.” We at the Malden Retirement Board echo this advice and urge members to call upon us for information and guidance.