Will Florida honor my number of years in out-of-state teacher pension (Illinois)

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by mcharas

Yes, exactly my point. Without two incomes, or at least decent savings, options will be few.

Yep. Even with two incomes it can be tough if the other isn't making as much. Money certainly wouldn't go as far as in other areas.

I'd personally would pick Sarasota county if given the choice between collier or Sarasota. Closer to Tampa, more stuff to do. I hate the layout of Naples now. I got family down there still and it's just too big now. You'd burn through savings quick down there too.

[indytoflgirl]

Well, first of all, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! When we moved to Florida (from southern Indiana) almost 10 years ago to teach in Hillsborough, they took our years of service for the pay schedule. But, we did have to start again with retirement. Best to talk to the Human Resources office in your new district. Once again, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! We have NEVER regretted our move for so many reasons Your first Christmas here will be amazing in the difference of weather.

[RamenAddict]

Originally Posted by MortonR

You can look on the Florida Retirement System (FRS) web site and see, but I am almost certain the answer is "No". You might be able to transfer the proceeds of your Illinois pension if you can cash out, but since Illinois has no money I expect that will be near difficult if not impossible to do, and you would also most likely take a major hit in doing so as far as being penalized for an early withdrawal.

Florida may have reciprocity for your teaching time, but not for retirement benefits - that's a completely different system and has nothing to do specifically with teachers - it's for all state and municipal employees if their local government participates in it (not all do.)

And you'll need to vest 8 years to become eligible to participate in the FRS. DO NOT take the "investment option" - take the pension! They'll put you in the investment option by default if you don't specify. It's a far less productive set of funds.

Oh - and from someone who exited education down here a few years ago - Welcome to Hell. You are now an annual "at will" employee and have no tenure. Your job is no more secure than a cashier at Walmart.

RM

Whether you take the investment or the pension depends on whether you plan on staying with the public school system for 8 years. Some people may not want to do that, and you can't switch over until you've reached year 5. Some school districts truly are worse than others, although I don't think the Tampa Bay Area ones are the worst. I knew several people who went into the pension system and quit right before they could make the 5-year switch, so they ended up with nothing whatsoever. That said, here I know a few people who got fed up just went to Florida Virtual and they seem to be happier with that than the traditional classroom, even if it is year round. I was an at-will employee and took the investment plan because I was at will in a very insecure job. I wanted to at least have SOME retirement funds instead of none. That is something for the OP to consider as well, since you vest in the investment plan after 1 year and it is pretty easy to get to one year before getting laid off/terminated.

Thankfully they stopped capping years of service. I know when I was in teaching, Hillsborough capped years of service at 7 recognized and between years 1 and 7 there were no step increases. That was in around 2001/2002, I believe. It was awful. I think they realized they were not going to get any good teachers that way and quickly abandoned that approach since no 20-year teacher was going to come into a position where they were getting the same pay as a first-year teacher.

[bobisinthehouse]

That could only work if schools were Federal instead of State.

[ghostrider7811]

My sister and her husband , both Pinellas County teachers left last year with each over 23 years on the job. They had enough of the heat and traffic.
They both landed new teaching jobs in rural S/W Virginia.
They make the same wage in VA. The VA school did hire them at a higher pay grade then a new teacher but after over 20 years , they are making the same wage !
They both kept their pensions intact with FRS and will collect in a few years when they are older. They both started over with a new pension / retirement plan in VA.
Every time I talk to her , they are loving life in VA and happy to be out of Pinellas.
Both were born in Pinellas BTW.

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by ghostrider7811

My sister and her husband , both Pinellas County teachers left last year with each over 23 years on the job. They had enough of the heat and traffic.
They both landed new teaching jobs in rural S/W Virginia.
They make the same wage in VA. The VA school did hire them at a higher pay grade then a new teacher but after over 20 years , they are making the same wage !
They both kept their pensions intact with FRS and will collect in a few years when they are older. They both started over with a new pension / retirement plan in VA.
Every time I talk to her , they are loving life in VA and happy to be out of Pinellas.
Both were born in Pinellas BTW.

It gets cold there but a lot less traffic which is nice. Also western VA has a lot nicer scenery than Florida too with the rolling hills and that and fall colors.