Wait a minute….that’s what gain sharing did for me?

In the last legislative session one of the big defeats teachers suffered was the loss of gain sharing, a part of the TRS 3 plan that put extra money into our retirement accounts when the market was doing well (need a reminder? see 5/17). I fought for gain sharing at the time without really understanding what it was, only that it benefited me in the long run.

A few days ago I got my TRS 3 plan statement in the mail, and now I get it:

Eligible Plan 3 members will receive a gain sharing payment of $270.69 per year of service in January 2008. The gain sharing payment will be applied to each member’s Plan 3 defined contribution account and reflected on the April 2008 Plan 3 statement.

For me, that’s $1,624.14. For someone with 25 years in, that’s $6,767.25. Either way, it’s a great thing to have, and it’s a damned shame to see it go away. The WEA will be fighting the loss of gain sharing in the courts, so there is hope we’ll get it back in the future.