Any Texas educators out there? I have a question about benefits. (Houston: health insurance, how much)

[jlloyd87]

I have a question for any teachers or educators in general. I was recently hired by a school district near Houston, and I'm curious about benefits. I was wondering if certain school districts pay for a larger portion (maybe all) of health insurance. I'm really excited about coming back to Texas after finishing school. Although, after looking at how much my paycheck is going to be, I looked at how other states handle insurance. There have been states that I've found that pay less than Texas, but actually results in a larger paycheck after considering how much of my check will go to insurance.

[texasdiver]

I don't know how much variation there is between districts but there is some.

Basically how health insurance works is that the state Teacher Retirement System (TRS) negotiates health insurance packages on behalf of all the districts across the state and they put together a suite of HMO and PPO options that the local districts can then chose from. The call it TRS Active Care. Some of the big PPO plans like AETNA and Blue Cross offer state-wide plans whereas some of the more regional HMOs offer only plans that are available in certain counties within their service area. Here is the state web site that provides basic information:

http://www.trs.state.tx.us/active.js...e/introduction

According to the TRS web site, over 90% of districts use the state negotiated plans so there are obviously some that don't.

Now your question is how much will your district kick in for coverage. The basic rates for solo, spouse, and family coverage under each of the many plans are pre-negotiated at the state level so the only real question is how much the district will cover and how much the employee will have to cover. My district kicks in a flat amount of $325/mo. regardless of which plan you chose. I have the Active Care HD (high deductible) plan for self and family which costs about $580 per month so my monthly payroll deduction for health insurance is about $245. If you are only insuring yourself you may well be able to find a plan that is just about 100% covered by your district. It goes way up when you start adding spouses and children.

As far as I know, the amount each school district decides to contribute towards health insurance is completely dependent on the local school board when they set salaries and benefits each year. This is a non-union state so they basically just decide each year and hand it down. For the most part there seems to be a lot of continuity from year to year but no guarantees. So it is likely that you'll see some variation but the districts around Houston are no doubt very aware of what each are offering and will try to be competitive with each other. The ones that have a harder time attracting teachers may pay a bit more.

PS, another good benefit we have in Texas is the ability to self-administer your own 403(b) retirement plan through low-fee mutual fund companies such as Vanguard and Fidelity. I'm contributing to a Vanguard 403(b) plan through Vanguard that has zero fees other than the underlying fund fees which are very low. This is an incredibly good deal compared to most other 403(b) and 401(k) plans which typically charge between 1-2% fees on top of underlying fund fees. Your district may not be completely familiar with how to do this as they more frequently deal with broker-sold plans that lard on heavy fees. You have to know how to set it up and where to find the forms. Teachers in other states like California would kill to have this option available.

[jlloyd87]

I think that brings up another question. My understanding was that my district would contribute a certain amount to retirement, and I contribute another percentage from my paycheck. My assumption was that would go into TRS, and after 30 I would get TRS benefits. Is the 403(b) where my contributions go? I guess I'm unsure how the retirement picture looks many years from now.

Thanks for the info! It was really helpful.

[TXEX06]

I'm a teacher in San Antonio and you pay a lot for good health insurance. Texas educators pay much more for health insurance then most other states. I pay almost $900 month for my family. But, when I was single I paid about $80 a month for the same plan. If I was a cop in San Antonio then health insurance for family would be free!

Also, my district is one of the few that puts into social security.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by jlloyd87

I think that brings up another question. My understanding was that my district would contribute a certain amount to retirement, and I contribute another percentage from my paycheck. My assumption was that would go into TRS, and after 30 I would get TRS benefits. Is the 403(b) where my contributions go? I guess I'm unsure how the retirement picture looks many years from now.

Thanks for the info! It was really helpful.

TRS is the traditional pension system. You pay a portion of your paycheck and your district pays a portion. Then when you retire you get a fixed pension that is equal to 2.6% (not positive of the exact %) of your final highest 5 years average salary multiplied by the number of years you taught. At most districts they don't contribute to social security so this basically replaces your social security.

A 403(b) plan is completely separate. It is basically like an IRA except that you can make automatic contributions right out of your paycheck and the contribution limit is much higher than for IRAs (about $17,000 vs $6,000). This is your money and in most cases the district won't contribute to it at all. It is your money.

[CptnRn]

One issue to consider regarding teachers retirement in Texas is that many of the Texas school districts do not pay into Social Security (at least that was the case in Austin). So your teacher retirement will be the only retirement benefits that you get, unless you have had other jobs that paid something into SS. That was the case with my wife, who's SS benefits were limited to what she had earned while teaching in Colorado, before we moved to Texas.

[curmudgette]

jlloyd87: Your decision regarding which retirement system, if you have the choice, must be made with extreme care. You generally cannot reverse that one-time decision.

It's not 30 years that matters with TRS; it is what they call Rule of 80. That is, they add your age plus your years of service, and the sum must be 80 or higher. For example, if an employee is 55 and has put in 25 years with any TRS employer, the employee is eligible to retire with full pension. The *amount* of that pension, however, is tied only to years of service, not age. It will be a percentage of your average highest salaries -- the more years of service, the higher the percentage.

If you are new to TRS, your top five salaries are averaged, and there is a new minimum age to retire (I think it's 62 now.) A 62-year-old would only need 18 years of service to retire with a full pension, a percentage of the top five salaries' average based on 18 years of service.

If you have a choice of which retirement system you use, I would strongly advise you to read as much as you can and talk with as many colleagues as you can. Also, take advantage of your Human Resources and teacher retirement workshops.

In *my* opinion, the TRS route is much safer than a self-managed program that is contingent on your deftness and the stock market conditions, especially at the time you wish to retire. At my work, my colleagues who went the non-TRS path are regretting it and having to work much longer before they can afford to retire.

Of course, someone who is investment-savvy (I am most definitely *not*) might encourage you to manage your own retirement.

As CaptRn mentions, you might not be eligible for SS. I will be retiring in a few months and will get absolutely no SS ever because I worked nearly my whole career in public education.

Regarding what various schools might contribute to employee health insurance, I'll have to defer to others. I suppose you can get on various schools' websites and read their HR Benefits sections.

I wish you a successful career in education and I hope you enjoy your new job!

[XChucoresident]

I come from a family of Texas educators. My father taught 52 years in El Paso and I have taught 32, my daughter is studying to be a Chemistry teacher. I was reading recently that the rule of 80 to retire does NOT apply to new educators. Not really sure but I have heard that it is now 90 and a teacher has to be 62 to retire in the state of Texas. I just recently retired from DISD, but I still sub for them. So I try to keep up with what is going on in Texas education