Who is the current system working for?
Over the past decade Tier 2 COLA rates have not keep pace with inflation and have been three times less than inflation adjustments for Tier 1. At a time when costs are climbing higher, can we trust that teachers retiring with Tier 2 benefits are going to be able to keep up?
It’s time we demand more.
Almost 15% of TRSIL Tier 2 member contributions are going to pay for the $78 billion funding shortfall that is primarily accumulated on Tier 1 teacher benefits. While Teachers enrolled in TRSIL Tier 2 are paying for the pension debt on Tier 1 benefits, they will receive retirement income with less than half the value of Tier 1 teachers. That doesn’t seem fair.
Add your name to our open letter and let’s fix IL teacher’s retirement benefits together:
Why are TRSIL Tier 2 teachers being forced to make contributions into the pension fund to pay down the unfunded liability for Tier 1 benefits?
Someone should tell new teachers entering TRS that they only have a 50/50 chance of actually earning any benefits that would put them on a path to retirement income security.
Illinois needs to do more to ensure its retirement systems are properly funded, both for Chicago and the rest of the state.
In its own 2021 valuation report, TRSIL stated that Tier 2 benefits would lose value in retirement, while tier 1 benefits would keep pace with inflation.
Join us to close the IL Teacher Retirement Income Gap
For an Illinois teacher hired at age 25 who will work 35 years as a teacher, the lifetime monetary value of a Tier 1 pension is around $1.3 million. If you were hired after [X Date] and are enrolled in Tier 2, the value is only about $640,000. Why are Illinois teachers being denied equal compensation for equal work?
Learn more and sign our open letter:
TRS estimates that over 25 years a Tier 1 teacher who retires with a $50k pension will see that grow to $100k, due to the 3% COLA rule. But a Tier 2 teacher is likely only going to see that grow to around $60k. These are numbers from the TRS actuary.
Illinois legislative leaders passed Tier 2 benefits without almost any public debate. And now an entire generation of teachers is getting stuck in a retirement income gap.
Is this really a retirement plan for all teachers?
Illinois needs retirement benefits that work for all teachers.