S
NCERP COORDINATOR’S PROPOSED SCHEDULE OF
CAMPUS VISITS
Date:
July 8, 2010
July 15, 2010
July 22, 2010
Aug. 5, 2010
Aug. 12, 2010
Aug. 19, 2010
Location:
Florissant Valley
Meramec
Cosand Center
Forest Park
Florissant Valley
Meramec
Time:
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Noon
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Sept. 2, 2010
Sept. 9, 2010
Sept. 16, 2010
Sept. 23, 2010
Forest Park
Florissant Valley
Mearmec
Cosand Center
Noon
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Oct. 7, 2010
Oct. 14, 2010
Oct. 21, 2010
Forest Park
Florissant Valley
Meramec
12 p.m.
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Nov. 4, 2010
Nov. 11, 2010
Nov. 18, 2010
Forest Park
Florissant Valley
Meramec
12 p.m.
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Dec. 2, 2010
Dec. 9, 2010
Dec. 16, 2010
Forest Park
Florissant Valley
Meramac
12 p.m.
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Jan. 6, 2011
Jan. 13, 2011
Jan. 20, 2011
Jan. 27, 2011
Forest Park
Florissant Valley
Meramec
Cosand Center
12 p.m.
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Feb. 3, 2011
Feb. 10, 2011
Feb. 17, 2011
Forest Park
Florissant Valley
Meramec
12 p.m.
2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Mar. 3, 2011
Mar. 10, 2011
Mar. 17, 2011
Mar. 24, 2011
Forest Park
Florissant Valley
Meramec
Cosand Center
12
2
2
2
p.m.
p.m.
p.m.
p.m.
Locations are: Cosand Center, Room 208;
Florissant Valley, Training Center, TC-109;
Forest Park, VP Academic Affairs’ Conference Room; Meramec, BA-105.
M
T
W
T
F
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NCERP COMMITTEE
MEETING SCHEDULE
The quarterly NCERP Committee meetings now are being rotated from
various campus locations. The tentative date, place and time are as follows:
Aug. 11, 2010, Meramec, 9:15 a.m.
Nov. 10, 2010, Forest Park, 9:15 a.m.
Feb. 9, 2011, Cosand Center, 9:15 a.m.
May 11, 2011, Florissant Valley, 9:15 a.m.
BENEFICIARY ACCURACY
Make sure beneficiary information on file for NCERP retirement contributions
is accurate. Failure to do so could result in retirement contributions being paid
to the employee’s estate versus having the contributions going to loved ones. If
there are questions or concerns, contact James Hayden, plan coordinator, at
ext. 5217.
UNOFFICIAL…
GAME PLAN:
Don’t Drop the Ball on Managing Your Retirement Money. No matter
your age, the recession surely has you wondering how today’s money
woes may affect your future. Here are some ideas on how to diversify
and rebalance your portfolio:
3 or More Decades from Retirement. Invest systematically with
help from a financial advisor. The younger you are when you start, the
less you’ll ultimately have to save during your lifetime. Take advantage of
the power of tax-deferred compounding and matching contributions
offered through employer-provided retirement plans.
St. Louis
Community
College
FLORISSANT VALLEY FOREST PARK MERAMEC WILDWOOD
POINTS OF CONTACT:
Board of Trustees Appointment
Calla White
6688 Chesapeake Drive
Apartment C
Florissant, Missouri 63033
Phone: 314-355-9112
Term expires: BOT’s pleasure
Board of Trustees Appointment
Ruth Lewis
10455 Litzsinger Road
St. Louis, MO 63131
Telephone: 314-567-7098
Term Expires: BOT’s pleasure
Non-Unit Representative
Near or Living in Retirement. If you haven’t left your job yet,
examine your expected retirement earnings from your workplace
retirement plan, investments, Social Security and any other sources. And
you may want to test our living for six months on that amount. Income
too tight? Consider working longer, downsizing expenses or tweaking
your retirement portfolio. A financial advisor can suggest whether you
would benefit from a focus on income-producing investments like income
annuities, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, fixed annuities or high quality
dividend-paying stocks.
1-2 Decades from Retirement. Check your diversification and
rebalance your portfolio. Annual review of your assets allocation can help
enforce a buy low, sell high practice that may lower your risk and
potentially improve investment returns. It’s important to have a mix of
stocks, bonds, cash and other investments designed for you, your financial
objectives and your tolerance for market swings. Talk to a financial
advisor to help make sure your asset allocation is on track, as well as
evaluate whether your investment mix is right for your time horizon. And
look into catch-up contributions if you’re 50 or older, so you can
contribute more to your 403(b), your Roth IRA or your traditional IRA
account.
2-3 Decades from Retirement. Folks who are several decades from
retirement are often advised to take more risk with their retirement
funds. However, given the rise in unemployment, consider job security,
also, before making long-term investment decisions. If you have job
security concerns or volatile job income, it may be a good idea to fatten
up the cash stash before maxing out your tax-deferred accounts.
Vicki Lucido
FV - VP Academic Affairs' Office
Telephone: 314-513-4214
e-mail: vlucido@stlcc.edu
Term expires: June 30, 2011
Unit Representative
Kevin White
FP - Media Services
Phone: 314-644-9213
E-mail: kwhite@stlcc.edu
Term expires: June 30, 2013
Physical Plant
Mike Wibbenmeyer
MC – Utilities/HVAC
Phone: 314-984-7749
E-mail: mwibbenmeyer@stlcc.edu
Term expires: Oct. 30, 2010
Any suggestions for
improvements, questions,
comments or other concerns
about the retirement plan may be
directed to any of the NCERP
Committee representatives.
Any proposed agenda items
may be sent to James Hayden
or the employee representative 10
days prior to the meeting date.
Individuals with speech or hearing impairments
may call via Relay Missouri by dialing 711.
ACCOMMODATIONS STATEMENT
St. Louis Community College makes every reasonable effort to accommodate
individuals with disabilities. If you have accommodation needs, please contact the
Access office at the campus where you are registering at least six weeks before the
beginning of the class. Event or other public service accommodation requests
should be made with the event coordinator or applicable location nondiscrimination officer at least two working days prior to the event or public service.
NON-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT
St. Louis Community College is committed to non-discrimination and equal
opportunities in its admissions, educational programs, activities and employment
regardless of race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin,
ancestry, age, disability, genetic information or status as a disabled or Vietnam-era
veteran and shall take action necessary to ensure non-discrimination.
In furtherance of the college’s commitment, grievance procedures for the prompt
and equitable resolution of complaints are set forth in the college’s designated
Administrative Procedures.
This newsletter is designed to summarize and explain basic changes in the Non-Certificated Employees
Retirement Plan and provides updates on other related matters. Since it is only a summary, this
newsletter does not cover the plan's provisions in detail.Therefore, if there is any conflict between this
newsletter and the plan document itself, the plan document will always govern. An official copy of the
plan is available for inspection in the Human Resources department at the Joseph P. Cosand
Community College Center, 300 South Broadway, St. Louis, Mo. and in each campus’ library during
regular business hours.
100199 7/2010
INVESTORS’ REPORT
COLUMBIA MANAGEMENT’S INVESTMENT PRESENTATION
AS OF MARCH 31, 2010.
NON-CERTIFICATED EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT PLAN
July 14, 2010
Volume 43
NCERP COMMITTEE ENTERTAINS
QUESTIONS FROM NCERP PARTICIPANT
At the NCERP quarterly committee meeting, May 12, 2010, Kevin White, the
plan’s chair, presented the below listed questions to the NCERP committee
from an anonymous NCERP participant for discussion:
Question 1 – Why has the retirement multiplier remained unchanged? It has been
at .0155 for several years. It should be .0175 or at least .0165.
Donald Schisler,Towers Watson, stated that the multiplier is at .0155 at this
time and feels it would be detrimental to the plan at this time to make any
changes. He believes that the plan needs to recover from recent market
losses and the committee should not consider increasing the multiplier at this
time.
Question 2 – Could the committee consider changing the retirement formula to
decrease the average of annual salary from the four highest years, to reflect the three
highest years? The writer believes that most pensions are using three years, and our plan
has changed from five years to four.
Schisler stated that perhaps this is something that the committee could
consider in the future, however; due to recent losses in market value, it
would be his recommendation to not increase any benefits at this time.
Question 3 – Why doesn’t the college consider using a more current mortality table?
The writer believes the college is using a 1983 mortality table.
Schisler stated that the plan’s mortality table was updated through the year
2020 a few years ago. This update increased lump sum payouts.
Question 4 – The maximum Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) adjustment is capped
at 36 percent and the writer believes it should be increased to 50 percent or higher.
Schisler once again stated that due to the plan’s recent market losses the
committee should not increase any benefits until the plan has made
significant market gains.
These questions were obtained from a member of the unit work group
represented by White.
NCERP’S ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
The fiscal year budget report as of March 31, 2010, includes the
following:
•
Total budget for FY 2010: $387,950
•
Total invoices paid: $229,783.82, to include encumbered expenses
•
Balance as of March 31, 2010, after all bills paid: $137,732.93’
[AFFIX LABEL HERE]
Jim Wilkinson,Vice President, Institutional Client Services, informed the NCERP
committed that about 10 days ago the Bank of America sale to Ameriprise was
finalized and managers are now in place and things are going well.
Wilkinson also conveyed that the first quarter of 2010 was a time of
healing. The economy has grown 3 percent, the markets did well, inflation
was in control, the Gross National Product (GNP) was up 2.5 percent,
interest rates remained near zero, there was some job growth, though the
unemployment rate remained near 10 percent and oil sold at just under $80
per barrel. All of the 26 Russell Indexes were positive for the quarter, which
doesn’t normally happen, .08 percent of the S&P returns were positive and
the Dow Jones Industrial average is currently at 10,430.
Wilkinson further informed the committed that this was all positive until
two to four weeks into the current quarter when what he has characterized
as the 3G’s occurred. The 3G’s being Greece, Goldman/Sachs and glitches.
Wilkinson read a headline from September 29, 2008, and stated that what he
read from the beginning of the recession could easily be related to what
happened last week
Wilkinson stated that James Hayden had asked him a great question prior
to the meeting, “What caused Greece to descend?” Greece is now being
offered a bail-out package, but the reality is that Greece was not ready to
enter the European Union (EU), they entered at too strong of an exchange
rate, they haven’t improved competition in the market and did not have any
reforms. European wages have increased 20-30 percent, they have lost their
competitive advantage, they have been allowed run out of control and the
Greek debt has increased 18-20 percent. The bailout will cover the next two
to three years, but will not be a quick fix. The next few years the EU will be
relying on the U.S. and China to pull the economy forward.
Wilkinson stated that the market value of the plan was somewhere around
$40M last year and the value as of March 3, 2010, was nearly $58M. The value
of the plan increased almost $2M in the last quarter. The portfolio
performance is up 4.15 percent for the quarter and 33.28 percent since one
year ago. The plan increased 1.5 percent in April and was up 5.75 percent year
to date as of April 30, 2010. He credits the increase in the plan to appropriate
asset allocations. However, Wilkinson stated that this positive environment is
sure to change with what has already occurred as of May 2010.
Wilkinson then asked the committee if there were any questions:
Bruce Vogelgesang asked with what has happened in Europe and the
unemployment rate still at 10 percent in the United States what needs to be
done to turn this around?
Wilkinson stated that companies are producing the same amount with
fewer employees who are assuming more responsibility. Corporate America
needs to see stability in the market before they will be comfortable
increasing hiring.
Vogelgesang asked is there is a time frame?
Wilkinson answered, no, some companies will remain under employed and
others due to structural issues will continue to downsize. The economy
needs to get its house in order to see significant changes.
Calla White stated that though companies are decreasing employment she
believes that self-employment and small businesses are growing. People who
have a skill/trade are going out and starting businesses. She believes that
these individual’s income will not be accounted for until next tax year and
that the unemployment rate may actually be lower.
Jim Wilkins stated while the unemployment calculation is clumsy and there
is some confusion between unemployed and under employed. He suggested
that due to the economy people are now being forced to recalculate their
retirement age and other who have retired are going back to work.
Donald Schisler asked how the plan’s portfolio has performed in light of the
problems experienced in Greece.
Wilkinson stated that Greek market is an insignificant piece of our
portfolio. The international countries of concern are the PIIGS (Portugal,
Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain). The plan’s portfolio is 10 percent invested in
international funds and of that 10 percent, the countries invested in are the
top five international countries; China, United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland and
Canada, this limits our exposure to Greece’s current issues.
Kevin White asked how the new law pertaining to medical insurance will
affect the plan.
Wilkinson stated that there are not a lot of details out there and the
reform is still being drafted and no one is sure of the impact. It is a large
document, 2,400 pages, and the legislation was given 48 hours to review the
document, and Wilkinson doesn’t know how many of those who were
required to read the document had actually read it, before they voted for or
against it. Schisler agreed, and stated that more balance sheet hits are sure to
come, but for now many are waiting because there are very limited details.
ACTUARY INFORMS COMMITTEE
Donald Schisler, Towers Watson, informed the NCERP committee at their
May 12, 2010, quarterly committee meeting, that he had two issues he needed
to report to the committee:
1) Interest will be credited to NCERP employee’s contribution accounts
June 30, 2010, based on the average yield on one-year treasury constant
maturity securities. The yield has averaged 0.40 percent during the one-year
period ending April 30, 2010, and that rate will be credited to each
participant’s contributions account as of June 30, 2009.
2) Lump sum factors have been increased and go into effect July 1, 2010. They
are approximately 7 percent higher than they were a year ago due to decreased
interest rates. Thus, employees who retire on or after July 1, 2010, will receive a
greater lump sum payout. Anyone who is scheduled to retire prior to July1,
2010, should be contacted to determine if they would like to wait until July 1,
2010, to take advantage of the increase in the lump sum factors. This increase
only affects those who request lump sum benefit payment.
THE QUARTERLY UPDATES
Previous quarter ending March 31, 2010, there were seven new participants
were added to the plan and five employees separated from the college. Those
that separated have received their returned contributions and interest,
combined amount totaled, $5,606.28.
During the same time frame five plan participants chose to retire and chose
the lump sum payment totaling $845,505.53. There were no reported deaths
during the past reporting period (January 1- March 31, 2010).
RETIREMENT INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
If employees would like an estimate of their retirement benefits, attend any
of the campus visits made by James Hayden, plan coordinator, ext. 5217. Please
call at least one week before the scheduled visit to ensure the retirement
assessment is complete. Every participant is encouraged to contact Hayden at
any time to obtain a retirement benefit assessment.