20

13

N E W S from the Employee & Retiree Service Center

¡ Montgomery County Public Schools ¡ Rockville, Maryland ¡

VOLUME 20NUMBER 2WINTER

1

Ready... Set... RETIRE! IN THIS ISSUE

1 Ready... Set... Retire!

2 Retirement Timeline

3 Did You Spend Time Working Outside MCPS?

3 Investing with a 403(b) or a 457(b) as You Near Retirement

4 Medicare and Your Future Retiree Benefits

4 Who is Medicare-eligible?

4 IRS Announces New Limits for Defined Contribution Plans

4 Don’t Forget: Submit 2012 FSA Claims by the Deadline or Risk Losing Your Balances!

5 What is “EXS Life?”

5 IRS Uniform Premium Rate Table—Biweekly Cost per $1,000 of Insurance

5 Staff Members Celebrate their Success in the Million Mile Challenge Fall Incentive

6 New Year, New Information? Make Sure Everything is Up to Date

6 One Teacher’s Journey

continued on page 2

Are you thinking of retiring this July 1? The Employee and Retiree Service Center (ERSC) is

here to assist you in planning your retirement and ensuring that your transition from employee to retiree is smooth. This issue of For Your Benefit offers retirement planning resources throughout. In addition, here are the top three actions to take to prepare for your retirement.

¡¡ GET READY—Consult Retirement ExpertsERSC retirement experts present essential information and are available to answer

questions during Retirement Informational Sessions. Many people find that bringing a spouse or attending more than once is helpful. Registration is not required.

After you have made the decision to retire, you also may want to attend a Forms Workshop, where ERSC staff offers a review of the necessary retirement forms and helpful hints to help you complete them.

All informational sessions and forms workshops are held in the Carver Edu-cational Services Center auditorium, located at 850 Hungerford Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850. See below for dates and times of upcoming events. Be sure to

check the ERSC website prior to attending an event, as dates and times are subject to change.

Members of the State core pension plan also should attend a State Retirement Agency (SRA) Pre-Retirement Planning Seminar. State seminars are day-long events and cover topics such as Social Security and health benefits, legal considerations, and financial planning. You must register to attend an SRA seminar. For more information, please visit the ERSC website. These sessions fill quickly, so register early.

In addition, state representatives offer per-sonal counseling sessions for members of the State core plan who are planning an imminent retirement. Counseling sessions are held at

ERSC and must be scheduled in advance with SRA by calling 1-800-492-5909. For more details and to see upcoming counseling session dates, please visit the ERSC website. These also are very popular, so register early.

¡¡ GET SET—Obtain a Retirement EstimateA retirement estimate is a must-have tool in preparing for your retirement, as

it provides more personalized, detailed information than your yearly retirement statement. You should request a retirement estimate 9 to 12 months before your planned retirement date. This includes an estimate from ERSC for MCPS county core and/or supplemental plan members, as well as an estimate from SRA for State core plan members.

When you retire, you will be able to choose one of several different pay-ment options that affect both how much you will receive and, if you choose, how much your beneficiary will receive in the event of your death. A retirement estimate can help you determine which benefit option to choose by providing personalized figures based on your age and your beneficiary’s age for each option,

ERSC RETIREMENT INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS

Date Time

Tuesday, February 5, 2013 4:30–6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 4:30–6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013 4:30–6:30 p.m.

ERSC RETIREMENT FORMS WORKSHOPS

Thursday, February 14, 2013 4:30–6:30 p.m.

Monday, March 11, 2013 4:30–6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013 4:30–6:30 p.m.

Visit these retirement resources to learn more:¡¡ Understanding Your Retirement walks you through the retirement process, timeline, and pension calculation formulas.

¡¡ Retiree Benefit Summary informs you of benefits options for retirees, including costs and enrollment process.

¡¡ Retirement Planning web page offers links to these and other essential resources. n

F O R Y O U R B E N E F I T ~ N E W S F R O M E R S C 2

something your annual retirement benefit statement does not provide.

Knowing this information may help you make—or confirm—some of your major retirement decisions. For example, you may be planning to choose a payment option that allows you to leave a portion of your pension benefit to a beneficiary, such as your spouse, after your death. However, you may not realize how much this option will change your monthly retirement benefit. Your retirement estimate will detail every option so you can be better prepared to make decisions.

Allow enough time to get your estimate. Current response rates are four to six weeks for ERSC and 12 weeks for SRA.

¡¡ GO! Meet Important DeadlinesOnce you have consulted the

experts and determined your pen-sion payment option, you will need to consider the following important retirement deadlines:

¡¡bers to submit retirement forms for a July 1 retirement date and be eligible for payment of 30 percent of earned sick leave. Visit the ERSC website for additional information.

¡¡ 90 days prior to your retirement date: Final deadline for purchas-ing additional retirement credit. See “Receive Retirement Credit for Service Earned Outside MCPS” in this issue for more details about purchasing service.

¡¡ One month prior to your retire-ment date: Deadline for submitting all retirement forms to ERSC. For non-MCEA members who are plan-ning to retire on July 1, all paper-work must be submitted to ERSC by June 1. Visit the ERSC Forms web page to download your retirement application forms.

An abbreviated retirement timeline is offered in this issue. For a complete list of necessary actions, please visit the ERSC website. n

RETIRE! continued from page 2 Retirement TIMELINE  

9 T O 1 2 M O N T H S¡¡ Check your annual retirement statement.

¡¡ Read Understanding Your Retirement.

¡¡ Attend an Informational Session.

¡¡ Request an estimate of retirement benefits from MCPS and, if appli-cable, the State Retirement Agency.

¡¡ Apply to purchase any eligible ser-vice and/or military service credit. (See “Did You Spend Time Working Outside MCPS?” on page 3 of this issue.)

¡¡ Prepare your retirement budget.

6 M O N T H S¡¡ Read the Retiree Benefit Summary for retiree benefit options.

¡¡ Discuss your benefit payment options with your family and/or financial advisor.

  3 M O N T H S¡¡ Attend a Forms Workshop.

¡¡ Download your retirement application forms.

Members of the State Core Pension Plan Members of the MCPS Core Pension Plan 

¡¡ Determine your federal and state withholding amount. Consult with your tax advisor for assistance.

¡¡ If eligible, contact the Social Security Administration to file for Social Security benefits and enroll in Medicare Parts A and B if you and/or your spouse are 65 or older.

1 T O 2 M O N T H S¡¡ Send in your retirement forms. All forms must be received by ERSC at least 30 days prior to your retirement date. This includes forms to direct your final leave payment to your 403(b) and/or 457(b) accounts.

For a more detailed list of actions, visit the ERSC Retirement Planning web page. n

E M P L O Y E E S ’ R E T I R E M E N T P E N S I O N S Y S T E M

UnderstandingYour Retirement

r e t i r e m e n t b e n e f i t s , p r o c e s s ,

a n d f o r m s

O C T O B E R 2 0 1 2

Employee and Retiree Service Center ¡ 45 W. Gude Drive, Suite 1200, Rockville, MD 20850

301-517-8100 ¡ www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/ersc

ROCKVILLE, MARYLANDPublished by the Department of Materials Management for the Employee and Retiree Service Center

0160.13 • EDITORIAL, GRAPHICS & PUBLISHING SERVICES • 8.12 • 2400 COPYRIGHT © 2012 MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

F O R Y O U R B E N E F I T ~ N E W S F R O M E R S C 3

D I D Y O U S P E N D T I M E W O R K I N G O U T S I D E M C P S ? You May Be Eligible for Retirement Credit

You may be eligible for service credit on your pension for time worked with other institutions. Purchasing Service and submitting for credit for Military Service are two ways that you can earn service toward your retirement for time spent at other organizations.

¡¡ Why Apply for Additional Service? Applying for or purchasing

additional service credit toward your retirement can help you achieve your retirement goals. Depending on your circumstances, additional service may increase your retirement benefit or even allow you to retire earlier than you had anticipated.

¡¡ There are two ways to gain additional service credit.

1. Apply for military service credit for time spent on active duty in the United States military.

You can receive up to five years of service credit for active duty military service on your MCPS county core and/or supplemental pension plan or state pension after accruing 10 years of creditable service with MCPS. There is no cost to you to obtain military service credit. However, you may not claim this service with any other retire-ment or pension system, including your military pension.

You must apply for military credit and complete the required forms before retirement or resignation from MCPS. Once you have retired or resigned, no additional credit may be claimed.

To apply for military service toward your MCPS pension plan (core and/or supplemental), submit MCPS Form 455-18: Statement of Military Service, to ERSC.

To apply for military service credit toward your State core pension plan, submit State Form 43: Claim of Retire-ment Credit for Military Service, to the Maryland State Retirement Agency.

2. Purchase service credit for time spent employed by the federal government; an out-of-state municipality; a nonparticipating Maryland municipality; or (if you are a teacher) a private, parochial, or out-of-state school.

You may purchase a minimum of one month, up to a maximum of 10 years, if you were previously employed by one of the following:¡¡ Federal government ¡¡ Out-of-state municipality ¡¡ Nonparticipating Maryland municipality ¡¡ Private, parochial, or out-of-state school (teaching only)This service must be purchased at

least 90 days prior to retirement. You pay the full cost of purchased service.

The cost depends on age, final salary, and the amount of service you wish to purchase. Typically, purchasing service is expensive.

In addition, previous service may be purchased for periods of the following types of qualified approved leave: ¡¡ Personal illness ¡¡ Professional leave ¡¡ Academic leave ¡¡ Adoption leave ¡¡ Maternity/paternity leave ¡¡ Government-sponsored or subsidized employment ¡¡ Service in a professional or employee organization

If you are on a paid, qualified leave of absence, contributions are paid during the time of leave and you earn service credit. If you are on an unpaid, qualified leave of absence, you can purchase service for the period of leave after returning to work.

You do not have to wait until the time of retirement to purchase credit for periods of approved leave. Purchas-ing leave of absence time is less costly when it is done immediately after returning to work.

It is extremely important to file all required paperwork during an approved leave of absence. This ensures that you are eligible to purchase service credit for the period of leave and the active employee pension death benefit will remain in effect while you are on leave. You must pay any pen-sion contributions missed during the approved leave (plus interest) to be eligible for retirement credit.

To purchase service toward your MCPS core and/or supplemental pension plan, you must submit ERSC Form 421: Request to Purchase Service, to ERSC at least 90 days prior to your retirement.

To purchase service toward your State core pension plan, you must sub-mit State Form 26: Request to Purchase Previous Service, to the Maryland State Retirement Agency, as indicated in the form’s instructions. n

INVESTING with a 403(b) or a 457(b) as You Near Retirement

As you approach retirement, you may find that you have fallen short of your investment goals. If you are investing with a 403(b) and/or a 457(b) plan, you may be eligible to save more during your final years before retirement under the IRS Age 50 Catch-up Provision.

Under the catch-up provision, if you reach age 50 or older at any time during the calendar year, then you are eligible to contribute an additional $5,500 annually to your 403(b) and/or 457(b) plan. This raises your total yearly contribution potential to $23,000 for each plan, for a total maxi-mum of $46,000 per calendar year.

For more information on the MCPS 403(b) and 457(b) plans, visit the ERSC website. n

F O R Y O U R B E N E F I T ~ N E W S F R O M E R S C 4

MEDICARE AND YOUR FUTURE RETIREE BENEFITS

retirement, Medicare will be your primary medical coverage and your MCPS retiree medical plan will be your secondary medical coverage.

The Employee and Retiree Service Center (ERSC) must receive a copy of your Medicare card with Parts A and B 30 days before your retirement date. That means that if you are Medicare-eligible, you must contact the Social Security Administration at least three months prior to your retirement to enroll in Medicare Parts A and B.

Additional information about Medicare enrollment and your MCPS retiree health benefits can be found in the Retiree Benefit Summary. n

When you retire, Medicare becomes an important part of your retiree medical plans.

Will you and/or your spouse (or covered dependent) be Medicare- eligible at the time of your retirement? If you plan to enroll in the MCPS retiree health plan, then you and/or your spouse must be enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B as of your retirement date.

As a current MCPS employee, you and/or your covered dependents may have deferred enrollment in Medicare because you were covered by an active employee medical plan. However, as a retiree, you are required to carry Medicare Parts A and B, as soon as you are eligible, in order to maintain medical benefits through MCPS. After

Who is Medicare-eligible? You are eligible for Medicare if you— ¡¡ are age 65 (or over if you have been employed and covered by an active group health plan), or

¡¡ receive disability benefits from the Social Security Administration and are beginning the 25th month of entitlement, or

¡¡ have end-stage renal disease (ESRD). n

IRS ANNOUNCES New Limits for Defined Contribution Plans

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that the 2013 contribution limit for 403(b) and 457(b) plans will be $17,500 for each plan, up from $17,000 in 2012.

The Age 50 Catch-up Provision will remain in effect with unchanged limits. Under the provision, any participant who is at least 50 years of age at any point during the calendar year may contribute an additional $5,500 to each plan. If you are an employee who is at least 50 years of age, that means, in 2013 you may contribute a total of $23,000 to each plan.

¡¡ Download the 403(b) Salary Reduction Agreement to update your 403(b) plan contributions.

¡¡ Download the 457(b) Salary Deferral Agreement to update your 457(b) plan contributions.

¡¡ Not saving with a 403(b) or 457(b) plan yet?Such defined contribution plans allow you to defer taxation on your

current income by saving for retirement with pretax dollars and defer-ring taxation on your income and earnings until you withdraw the money. Once you establish a 403(b) and/or 457(b) plan account, you choose how much to contribute, and your contributions are taken directly from your pay and deposited into your retirement savings plan account. You choose with whom to invest your money from among nine MCPS-approved vendors. n

Learn more about 403(b) and 457(b) plans and research the available vendors on our web page.

DON’T FORGET: Submit 2012 FSA Claims by the Deadline or Risk Losing Your Balances!

If you are one of the many employees who had a flexible spend-ing account (FSA) in 2012, then it is time for you to review your account and make plans to use any remaining balances before March 15, 2013.

Qualifying expenses from your medical and/or dependent care FSAs incurred between January 1, 2012, and March 15, 2013, may be reimbursed from your 2012 plan election. Any remaining 2012 balances will be for-feited. All 2012 plan-year FSA claims must be submitted by April 30, 2013.

For additional information about FSAs or to download a form for filing an FSA claim, visit our website. To review your account, visit the SHPS (ADP) website. n

F O R Y O U R B E N E F I T ~ N E W S F R O M E R S C 5

continued on page 6

What is “EXS LIFE?”Are you wondering about the

line on your pay advice that refers to “EXS Life?” EXS Life, one example of “imputed income,” is noncash income and comes from MCPS group term life insurance. Imputed income, for group term life insurance, is calculated using a uniform government table (see below) that provides rates for each age group.

Excess Life Insurance applies only to employees who are enrolled in the MCPS life insurance program and whose salary is above $25,000. IRS rules require employees to pay taxes on the value of group life insurance over the amount of $50,000.

Therefore, the value of the noncash income listed as EXS Life on the pay advice is added to your taxable income. The amount of life insurance coverage is not taxable; however, the premium value of the life insurance coverage is taxable.

Under IRS regulations, the pre-mium value for the first $50,000 of employer-paid group term life insur-ance is exempt from income and Social Security taxes.

MCPS provides group term life insurance to “benefit-eligible” active employees working 40 or more hours biweekly and in the amount of two times their annual salary, rounded to the nearest thousand dollars. MCPS and the employee share the cost, with employees paying 10 percent of the cost for basic employee life insurance.

IRS regulations require that the tax-able life insurance value be determined using the Uniform Premium Rate table. This table lists the biweekly value per $1,000 of insurance, based on the employee’s age as of December 31 of the current calendar year.

The following example shows how the taxable amount for your life insur-ance benefit is calculated.

¡¡ Example:¡¡ Andy is a 60-year-old, 12-month employee earning $50,555 per year. He is eligible for the group term life insurance plan.

¡¡ The plan provides term life insurance in the amount of 2 x $50,555=$102,000.

¡¡ The value of the first $50,000 is excluded from taxation; the employer paid portion of the value of $52,000 is subject to taxation ($102,000-$50,000).The Uniform Premium Rate as

determined by the IRS is $15.86 per pay period ($52 x .305). $15.86 is considered to be the biweekly value of the life insurance in excess of $50,000. Andy pays $.44 per pay period for his life insurance, $15.40 is the imputed income shown as EXS Life that Andy realizes.

The value of the imputed income for excess life is reported separately on the W-2 as an adjustment to income in Box 12 under Code C, Group Term Life Insurance over $50,000. Excess life premiums are taxed each year that the coverage is provided. Life insurance proceeds (the amount paid to your beneficiaries in the event of your death) are not taxed. There is no cash value of this term life insurance; however, since MCPS pays 90 percent of the premium, it represents a great value to the employee and his/her beneficiary(ies). n

IRS Uniform Premium Rate Table—Biweekly Cost per $1,000 of Insurance

AGE(AS OF DEC. 31)

IRS RATEPER YEAR

IRS RATE PER MONTH

12-MONTH PER PAY

10-MONTHPER PAY

under 25 0.600 0.050 0.023 0.030

25–29 0.720 0.060 0.028 0.036

30–34 0.960 0.080 0.037 0.048

35–39 1.080 0.090 0.042 0.054

40–44 1.200 0.100 0.046 0.060

45–49 1.800 0.150 0.069 0.090

50–54 2.760 0.230 0.106 0.138

55–59 5.160 0.430 0.198 0.258

60–64 7.920 0.660 0.305 0.396

65–69 15.240 1.270 0.586 0.762

70+ 24.720 2.060 0.951 1.236

STAFF MEMBERS CELEBRATE their Success in the Million Mile Challenge Fall Incentive

This fall, 5,872 Million Mile Challenge (MMC) participants advanced toward MCPS’s goal of reaching one million miles of activity this school year!

Well Aware will hold an awards ceremony to celebrate staff MMC suc-cesses and award prizes on Wednesday,

F O R Y O U R B E N E F I T ~ N E W S F R O M E R S C 6

NEW YEAR, NEW INFORMATION? Make Sure Everything is Up to DateMake sure your employee information is up to date

so you can receive important notifications and the beneficiaries for your pension plan and other benefits are in line with your wishes.

Update Your Personal Information¡¡ To update your address, phone number of record, or other personal information, please submit MCPS Form 445-1: Change in Personal Information, to ERSC.

Update Your Banking InformationIf you have changed bank accounts or wish to enroll

in or change your summer pay savings with Mont-gomery County Teachers Federal Credit Union (MCT), now a division of Educational Systems Federal Credit Union, you now may make your change using direct deposit on Human Resources Online (HRO). When you use HRO to make your direct deposit change, you will receive e-mail confirmations that allow you to track the progress of your request.

¡¡ Login to HRO

Update Your BeneficiariesWhile ERSC is the first stop for much of your

beneficiary paperwork, we are not able to report or confirm the beneficiaries on your existing plans. If your decisions are in question, submit a new beneficiary

form to be certain that your beneficiary records are as you intended.

1. TO CHANGE YOUR BASIC EMPLOYEE TERM LIFE INSURANCE BENEFICIARIES: ¡¡ Submit MCPS Form 455-20: Employee Benefit Plan Enrollment. Indicate your desire to change your beneficiaries in Section II and indicate your changes in Section VII of this form.

2. TO CHANGE YOUR OPTIONAL EMPLOYEE LIFE INSURANCE BENEFICIARIES:¡¡ Submit MCPS Form 450-1: Optional Employee Term Life Insurance. Indicate your desire to change your bene-ficiaries in Part II and indicate your changes in Part III.

3. TO CHANGE YOUR 403(B) OR 457(B) PLAN BENEFICIARIES: ¡¡ Contact your vendor.If you do not know how to contact your vendor—¡¡ Visit http://mcps.yourplan.info/ ¡¡ Click on the “Vendors” tab. Select your vendor from the list to see information on updating your beneficiaries.

4. TO CHANGE YOUR PENSION PLAN BENEFICIARIES: ¡¡ MCPS Core and/or Supplemental pension plan: Submit MCPS Form 455-5: Designation of Beneficiary/Beneficiaries.¡¡ State Retirement and Pension System of Maryland: Submit State Form MSR004. n

Editor’s note: In a recent issue of Retiring

Times, we asked retirees to consider sharing

their retirement stories with MCPS employees.

Perhaps their experiences will provide helpful

suggestions and insights that you can use when

you get ready to retire. Following is a submis-

sion by Carol Westreich Solomon, a retired

MCPS English teacher and administrator.

One Teacher’s JourneyBy Carol Westreich Solomon

Money planning constituted only one fragment of my transition to retirement. Filling my post-teaching life with meaningful growth was even more important. I was not retiring to vegetate until my death; I was retiring to reclaim dreams that had been put on hold.

Because teaching took so much out of my life, I had little time while

working to investigate my new journey. However, I did articulate principles to guide my first year:

¡¡ Have something exciting to look forward to in the fall when the start of school causes an adrenaline rush in all teachers—even retired ones.

¡¡ Have regular commitments sched-uled for the fall, but not so many that my life felt overscheduled.

¡¡ Start writing my teaching memoirs as soon as I carried my last school box into the house. This would enable me to reflect on what I had achieved and use this reflection as a springboard to my new journey.

¡¡ Meet new people who also were excited about retirement.

¡¡ Partake in the rich cultural possibil-ities of the Washington metropoli-tan area, many of which I had been unable to regularly enjoy because

I spent at least one weekend day grading papers.

¡¡ Reassess my commitments at the end of each year. Unlike marriage, these commitments should fluctu-ate to allow me to continue to grow.

¡¡ Use my flexible life to engage in the lives of family members, both my young grandchildren who live out of state and my elderly aunts and cousin who live nearby.

¡¡ Spend more time with my husband, who had spent many lonely hours while I graded papers.

Here is how my plan has played out over the two+ years since I retired.

I planned a trip to England in fall 2010, as well as trips to California and Alabama. All three trips were delightful

continued on page 7

F O R Y O U R B E N E F I T ~ N E W S F R O M E R S C 7

Million Mile Challenge continued from page 5

One Teacher’s Journey continued from page 6

is published quarterly by Montgomery County Public Schools Employee and Retiree Service Center 45 W. Gude Drive, Suite 1200 Rockville, Maryland 20850

phone: 301-517-8100 e-mail: ERSC@mcpsmd.org

Larry A. BowersChief Operating Officer

Susanne G. DeGrabaChief Financial Officer

Richard C. JohnstoneDirector, Benefits Strategy and Vendor Relations

Marcia J. WelchCommunications Specialist and Editor

0764.13 • EDITORIAL, GRAPHICS & PUBLISHING SERVICES

January 23, 2013, from 4:30–5:30 p.m. at Rockville High School.* In addition to grand prizes, overall prizes for Million Mile Challenge winners will be presented. Employees are encour-aged to attend the event to cheer on their colleagues who have won and celebrate their own MMC successes.

“The Million Mile Challenge motivated me to increase my current level of activity and focus in on areas where I needed to improve,” said Cara Grant, supervisor, Pre-K–12 Health and Physical Education, and recipient of an MMC Overall Lifestyle Change Award. “I look forward to keeping the momentum going and remaining active to maintain personal health, model good behaviors to my children, and support the Million Mile Challenge goal.”

The MMC competition, sponsored by Well Aware, the MCPS employee wellness program, provides incentives for MCPS employees to get active and improve their health in the process. Participating employees—from office and schools across the county—par-ticipated in the MMC fall incentive, which ran for 10 weeks and ended on December 9. They walked, ran, biked, and Zumbaed their way toward one million miles of activity as individuals and as members of teams.

MMC resumed this week with a New Year’s resolution challenge that will run until February 24, 2013. It will be followed by a spring competi-tion, which kicks off the next day and wraps up on May 5, 2013. For details about the MMC, visit the Well Aware website. n

*In case of inclement weather, the event will be held at the same time and location on Thursday, January 31, 2013.

changes from past summer trips—no crowds, lower airfares, better travel weather.

I attended a docent class at the Library of Congress (LOC), which had a flexible attendance plan so my husband and I could travel. The class featured top scholars from each of the 22 LOC reading rooms. In winter 2011, I began my docent work tak-ing groups on tours of the LOC. This fulfilled my desire to still be with children, my need to talk in front of groups, and my goal to be in the center of Washington’s vibrant cultural scene.

I wrote my teaching memoirs during the first six months of retire-ment, which helped me understand how teaching complemented who I was at age 21 and later shaped who I am today. The memoirs served as a springboard to my return to creative writing, a great love of my high school and college years. More recently, I have immersed myself in writing short fiction and have attended a writers’ retreat.

Money planning constituted

only one fragment of my transi-

tion to retirement. Filling my

post-teaching life with mean-

ingful growth was even more

important. I was not retiring to

vegetate until my death; I was

retiring to reclaim dreams that

had been put on hold.

I maintained contacts with teach-ing colleagues. However, I realized later that many of those connections depended upon a shared universe that no longer existed. So I added to my friendships at the Library of Congress and at the writers’ retreat. Just as I shared with my educational colleagues the challenges and exhilaration of teaching, so I now share with my fel-low docents and writers the challenges and exhilaration of my new life.

Washington is my world. I no longer feel confined to my Gaithers-burg home. On docent days, I spend the afternoon downtown at a gallery or an exhibit.

I continue to adjust my commit-ments. Last year I attended courses at OSHER, a noncredit program for retirees, sponsored by Johns Hopkins at Shady Grove. This year I wanted more demanding work, so I attend a fiction course at George Washington University.

I have enjoyed the preschool years of our four grandchildren and have learned about aging gracefully; and I have learned about my family his-tory by spending more time with my elderly relatives.

My marriage has thrived as my hus-band and I spend more time together. But we have been careful to maintain separate lives, as well, so that the time we spend together is energized by stories from our separate adventures.

Careful saving and frugal living—both before retirement and since—have made all of the above possible. But money alone does not ensure a fulfilling post-teaching life! n

1 Y E A R • 1 M I L L I O N TO G E T H E R

challengeMILEMILLION