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2008 Member Statement Details

This web page describes in more detail each section of the Active/Deferred Member Statement (ADMS) you received in the mail. As you read through your statement, note that your estimated allowance illustrates the potential retirement pension that can be derived from your continued membership in the Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association (ACERA). Official plan documents govern your plan eligibility and benefits. Refer to your ACERA Member Handbook [1MB PDF] for a more detailed description of your benefits.

Please Note: All of the information provided in the ADMS is current as of printing. Benefits may be subject to change.

Statement Sections

Your Personal Information

Your Beneficiary Information

Your Service Totals

Your Contribution Totals

Your Allowance Estimate

Estimated Allowance Increase

How Your Allowance is Calculated

Forms

Active/Deferred Member Beneficiary Designation Form

Survey

ADMS Feedback Survey

Your Personal Information

This statement section includes your name and important ACERA demographic information, including your current retirement membership status, plan identification, retirement membership entry and re-entry dates, your employer, salary information, and whether you have established reciprocity. Review this section carefully. If you are an active member, notify your employer if any changes are necessary to your date of birth as this information is provided to ACERA directly from your employer.

Here are brief descriptions of key data highlighted in your statement:

Membership Status

· Active

· Deferred

Active means you are currently employed by an ACERA Participating Employer in a retirement-eligible job classification.

Deferred means you no longer work in a retirement-eligible ACERA job classification and are not actively making retirement contributions. You have also left your retirement contributions on account with ACERA; these contributions continue to earn interest, if applicable. You may be eligible to receive a retirement allowance upon reaching retirement eligibility.

Reciprocity

Reciprocity is the joining or linking of similarly administered retirement systems. If “yes” is indicated on page 2 of your statement, your retirement allowance is linked with another public agency, whose name appears on your statement. Your highest earnings under any of these systems will be used to determine the benefits payable to you by ACERA.

Refer to ACERA’s reciprocity webpage or page 10 of your Member Handbook [1MB PDF] for more information on reciprocity.

Retirement

System Entry

Date/Re-Entry

Date

This is your most recent date of entry into the retirement system. For most people, the entry date and re-entry date are the same. However, if you terminated employment, withdrew contributions, and subsequently re-entered membership, your adjusted entry date will be the most recent date you entered the retirement system. You may purchase the days you worked prior to your entry date, however, service purchases/redeposits of prior service do not change your entry/re-entry date into retirement membership. All service credit, whether earned during membership or service earned outside of membership and later purchased, is considered when determining your retirement allowance.

Current Plan

· General

· Safety

· Tier I

· Tier II

· Tier III

· Int

· Non

There are two types of ACERA members: General and Safety. Safety Members are employees working in active law enforcement, firefighting, or positions that have been designated Safety positions by the Board of Retirement (e.g., Probation Officers or Group Counselors). Remaining job classifications fall under General membership.

There are three tiers of ACERA members: Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III.

Tier I

- Employees of Alameda County, the Superior Court, the 1^st Five, or the Alameda County Medical Center with a retirement system entry/re-entry date prior to July 1, 1983

- Livermore Area Recreation Park District with an entry date prior to 10/1/08

- All Alameda County Office of Education (any entry date)

- All Housing Authority (any entry date)

Tier II

- Employees of Alameda County, the Superior Court, the 1^st Five, or the Alameda County Medical Center with a retirement system entry/re-entry date on or after July 1, 1983

Tier III

- New employees of Livermore Area Recreation & Park District (LARPD) with entry date on or after 10/1/08

- LARPD members who elected to change from Tier I to Tier III

Integrated (Int) vs. Non-Integrated (N/I)

Your statement will tell you whether you are an integrated member or a non-integrated member by printing either Int or N/I.

Most members pay into Social Security each pay-period. These members have a reduced rate on their retirement contribution and are integrated with Social Security. When they retire, their retirement allowance is also slightly reduced.

Safety members and some long time general members do not pay into Social Security. Therefore, they pay the full retirement contribution and they are non-integrated members of ACERA. In addition, some employers do not participate in Social Security, so members working for these employers are non-integrated. When they retire, they do not have the reduction in their benefit.

Average

Monthly

Salary

The listed salary is an un-audited monthly average of your salary as reported through your employer’s payroll file. Your final average salary is one of the factors used to compute your retirement allowance at the time of retirement. For Tier I members, this is your monthly average for the last 12 months. For Tier II members, this is your monthly average for the last 36 months. Projected salary is not computed. Those who entered membership within the last three years will see an understated average as there were not 36 months of salary available. See How Your Allowance is Calculated for an explanation of how ACERA computes your final average salary to calculate your monthly retirement allowance.

Your Beneficiary Information

ACERA asks you to name your beneficiaries when you become an ACERA member. Your statement lists the primary and alternate beneficiaries on file with ACERA, who are designated to receive any payable death benefits in the event of your death. Review your beneficiary information carefully; if you wish to make changes, you must do so in writing. Use ONLY the Active/Deferred Member Beneficiary Designation Form -complete it, sign it, and mail it back us. To request a form from the ACERA Call Center, call 1-800-838-1932 (press 1).

Your ACERA Member Handbook [1MB PDF] and www.acera.org describe the benefits payable to your beneficiary(ies) in more detail.

Your Service Totals as of December 31, 2008

The more service credit you have, the higher your retirement benefits. ACERA also uses service credit to determine when you may retire and receive benefits. This section of your statement provides the total service credit in your retirement account through the end of the last pay period in December 2008 (which ends December 13, 2008) and any service purchases made (or contracts completed) by December 31, 2008.

Current Service Years list your earned years of service. Retirement service credit is not granted for breaks in service or positions held in nonretirement-eligible job classifications. Purchased Service Years show purchased time on completed (paid-off in 2008) service purchase contracts only--service credit is granted upon completing the purchase contract.

Date of Entry

As you review this information, you will likely find that your retirement service is different from your employment service. This is to be expected because retirement service credit is earned beginning the first day of the second pay period of employment in an ACERA-covered position (your date of entry/re-entry into the retirement system). In general, you earn one year of service credit for each year of full-time employment, provided you are working in a retirement-eligible position and are making retirement contributions.

Sick Leave Credit Upon Retirement

You can convert your unused sick leave into service credit, as allowed by your bargaining unit. For most members, upon retirement, 50% of any unused sick leave balance can be converted to service credit and added to your total years of service. Converted sick leave does not count toward meeting retirement eligibility requirements.

To convert your unused sick leave to service credit, your retirement effective date must be the day after you terminate employment. Retirement-eligible members who terminate employment and choose not to apply for and begin retirement will not receive credit for unused sick leave.

Monthly Medical Allowance

Retirees with 10 or more years of creditable ACERA service and service-connected disability retirees enrolled in an ACERA-sponsored medical plan receive a Monthly Medical Allowance (MMA) towards retiree medical premium payments to offset the cost.

The ACERA MMA helps to offset the cost of retiree medical insurance premiums. The offset is based on ACERA years of service and a contribution amount determined annually by the Board of Retirement. Existing policy provides that the maximum amount is limited to your self-only premium or highest allowable benefit under the MMA, whichever is lower. Plan premium costs exceeding the MMA contribution are deducted from your monthly retirement allowance.

This benefit is only available for payment toward an ACERA sponsored medical plan; the cost of private insurance is not covered. The MMA is prorated according to your years of service. MMA is a non-vested benefit. Refer to ACERA’s MMA webpage for current MMA amounts.

Service Audit

Your statement lists your last service audit date. Your service credit is audited by an ACERA Retirement Specialist when you request a benefit estimate, service purchase/redeposit calculation, service audit, and at the time you retire. This audit is done to ensure that your service credit total is accurately recorded in our system.

Your Contribution Totals as of December 31, 2008

This section breaks down your employee retirement contributions. The totals reflect the beginning balance from your last statement date (as of December 31, 2007), contributions made during 2008, plus any contributions made due to service purchase contracts completed in 2008. This section also includes interest credited to your account in 2008, if applicable.

MTO and VTO

In prior years, Alameda County offered a Voluntary Time Off Program and also implemented a Mandatory Time Off Program due to budget deficits. If you were absent from work due to MTO or VTO, you did earn service credit during these periods. In addition, the County paid retirement contributions on your behalf so that you would not lose benefits. However, these benefits are not refundable should you terminate employment and choose to withdraw your balance of contributions and interest.

Employer Offset/Pickup

For certain management employees and employees with certain bargaining units, your employer may pay a portion of your retirement contribution, this is stated as “Employer Offset/Pickup.” This amount is not refundable should you terminate employment and choose to withdraw your balance of contributions and interest.

If a negative adjustment shows on your account during 2008, you may contact ACERA for an explanation.

Deferred non-vested members can withdraw their contributions at any time. If applicable, contact ACERA to withdraw your account funds. If you have established reciprocity with another retirement system, you may not withdraw your funds unless you terminate employment and withdraw funds under that system.

Your Retirement Allowance Estimates

This section provides an estimate of the monthly allowance that may be available to you when eligible for retirement. This allowance is paid to you for the remainder of your lifetime after retirement. If you are currently eligible to retire, the first estimate provided on your statement is for your birthday following 1-1-10. If you are a non-vested deferred member (with less than 5 years of service credit and not employed under a reciprocal retirement agency) you will receive only one estimate for age 70. By law, non-vested members are not eligible to receive a monthly allowance until they reach age 70.

Your estimated monthly retirement allowance is calculated through the plan’s three-component formula, which includes your retirement age factor, total years of service credit at retirement, and final average salary. To estimate your allowance for purposes of this statement, we also use a range of assumptions described under the table of your retirement allowance estimates on page 3 of your statement.

Here are brief descriptions of the data included in this section:

Estimated

Retirement Age

This illustrates your estimated allowance at various retirement ages. Generally, members are eligible to retire at age 50 or older with 10 or more years of service credit; at any age with 30 or more years of service credit; or at age 70 or older with any amount of service credit. Safety Members may retire with 20 years of service, regardless of age, or at age 70 with any amount of service credit.

Years of Service at Retirement Age

This estimates the years of service credit you may earn as you work to various retirement ages. For purposes of calculating your estimated allowance, ACERA assumes you will continue to work at your current employment and membership type until reaching the stated retirement ages. Additional service purchased and service purchase contracts completed by mid-March (when data for this statement was produced) are included in the service credit used to compute these estimates.

Part-time Employees: Your estimated allowance was projected using full-time employee hours from 2009 forward; thus, the service credit projection and the estimated monthly allowance you see here may be much higher than what you may receive at retirement age.

Deferred Members: You do not earn service credit after termination of employment. The estimates provided are based on service credited as of your termination date. No projected service was added.

Estimated

Monthly

Allowance

As noted above, ACERA calculates your estimated monthly retirement allowance using the plan’s formula. Refer to the How Your Retirement Allowance is Calculated section of this web page for a more detailed description of the plan’s formula components.

Estimated % of

Average Monthly Salary

at Retirement

To help you understand and plan for the income you may need in retirement, your statement illustrates the percentage of your Average Monthly Salary that may be delivered to you at retirement.

Estimated Allowance Increase at Retirement— How Accruals and Ventura Benefits Can Add to Your Pension

This section illustrates the significant affect that unused vacation accruals may have on your retirement allowance. The Ventura Decision permits ACERA to include eligible vacation payments in your final average salary calculation. The amount you are eligible to include in your final average salary depends on your member type, as follows:

Tier I—General or Safety

Tier II—General or Safety

Deputy Sheriffs Only

Up to 1 year’s worth of vacation accruals can be converted to pay for purposes of calculating your final average salary either by selling back vacation during your last year of employment and or receiving a vacation pay off (cash out) upon retirement.

Up to 3 year’s worth of vacation accruals can be converted to pay for purposes of calculating your final average salary by selling back vacation during your last three years of employment and receiving a vacation pay off (cash out) upon retirement.

In addition to vacation accrual sell backs and pay off, sick leave cash out received upon retirement can also be converted to pay for purposes of calculating your final average salary. Up to 13 days may be included for Tier I members and 39 days for Tier II members.

How Your Retirement Allowance is Calculated

This section illustrates how ACERA uses the plan’s formula to calculate your monthly retirement allowance. It is important for you to understand these factors and the value of your plan benefits. The allowance available to you at retirement is equal to:

(Your Final Average Salary at Retirement) x (Your Total Years of Service Credit at Retirement) x (Your Retirement Age Factor at Retirement)

Here are brief descriptions of the factors included in the retirement plan allowance formula; refer to www.acera.org or your ACERA Member Handbook [1MB PDF] for more detailed information.

Final Average

Salary

Final Average Salary (FAS) is the average compensation earned during the period determined to be your final compensation period. FAS is calculated based on your member type. For Tier I members, ACERA averages the highest 12 months of salary earned; for Tier II members, ACERA averages the highest 36 months of salary earned. As noted above, your FAS can also include payment for eligible vacation accruals. If you have reciprocity, ACERA uses the highest average salary among your reciprocal systems to calculate final average salary.

Total Years of

Service Credit

at Retirement

ACERA calculates the service credit earned under each member type throughout your retirement-eligible employment. In general, you earn a year of service upon entry into the retirement system for each year you work in a retirement-eligible job classification. Sick leave credit is granted upon retirement.

Retirement

Age Factor

The retirement age factor applied to your retirement allowance calculation is based on your plan and tier. Age factors for Tier I, Tier II, and Safety Members are printed on your statement.

Age factors for Safety members who deferred membership prior to July 3, 2005 in Tiers I and II start at 1.25% at age 41 and increase with each quarter age increase up to 2.62% at age 55.

Age factors for LARPD members not using the enhanced formula start at 1.34% at age 50 and increase with each quarter age up to 2.62% at age 62.

Effective 10/1/08, age factors for LARPD members who are using the enhanced formula start at 2.00% at age 50 and increase with each quarter age up to 2.50% at age 55.

Note: The actual allowance available to you at retirement will equal the sum of the allowances calculated from each tier and plan of service (whether you are a Safety or General Member) earned during your ACERA membership. Your allowance amount may be affected by Internal Revenue Code limitations. You may not receive more than 100% of your final average salary. Refer to your Member Handbook for more detailed information.

If you have additional questions, please call ACERA at 1-800-838-1932.