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GETTING RETIREMENT READY

As you consider your retirement, it’s important to know the age and eligibility requirements, any options for early retirement, and how your chosen date impacts your pension amount.

Quick Links

Beneficiary Form

 

Plan Member Guide

 

Direct Deposit Form

 

Teachers’ Pension Application

 

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)

 

The NLTA

 

The Retired Teachers Association

You can retire any time during the year and start receiving your pension. Your normal retirement date is the end of the month in which you turn 62; however, you may retire earlier with an unreduced pension if you meet one of the following criteria:

 

  • 30 years of pensionable service.

  • Age 55 with at least 25 years of pensionable service.

  • Age 60 with at least 5 years of pensionable service.

Only at the end of the school year, anyone needing five-tenths of a year or less to meet the eligibility requirements will be considered eligible to retire. However, their benefits will be calculated based on their exact amount of pensionable service.

If you’re 55 years old with less than 24.5 years of pensionable service, you can retire and receive a reduced pension. While the total value of your pension remains the same, it will be spread out over a longer period, which results in smaller monthly payments.

 

Your Plan Member Guide explains everything in greater detail. And, you can always contact us to discuss your situation.

Looking for key retirement dates to help you stay on track? Check out your personalized Retirement Milestones summary in the myPENSION Retirement Modeling tool:

  • Get a clear view of all the key milestones, from your Unreduced Retirement Eligibility to the Latest Retirement Age — showing you the important ages, dates, and how many years you have left to reach each one, all in one place!

Are you starting to think about your retirement plans? We’d love to help you understand how much pension you’ll be eligible to receive!

 

When you retire, your pension is based on how many years of pensionable service you have, your best 8-year average earnings, and your total pension “accrual rate”.

 

You must have a minimum of 5 years of pensionable service:

 

  • For service before January 1, 1991, the rate is 2.22% per year.

  • For service on or after January 1, 1991, the rate is 2.0% per year.

  • However, for the period from April 1, 1993, to March 31, 1994, the rate is 1.25% unless you have “topped up” to 2%.

To calculate your pension:

 

  • Multiply the total accrual rate by the average of the best eight years of earnings.

  • The final calculation considers the best 80-tenths of years of teaching income, depending on the period being calculated.
Not big on doing the math yourself? The myPENSION planning tools are the perfect solution!

There are two easy ways to make the TPP pension formula meaningful to you by using the powerful calculators featured in myPENSION Retirement Modeling :

  1. The Defined Benefits Retirement Estimate calculator — go ahead and play around a little:
    • Set some assumptions — the age/date you think you’d like to retire, annual base salary, and how much you think your salary will grow until you retire — then click to generate personalized pension estimates.
    • Detailed Results show your estimated pension (your lifetime pension + bridge benefit) before and after age 65; and
    • Overview of all Retirement Ages shows your estimated pension at different retirement ages — super-helpful when you’re trying to decide on the right time to retire!
  2. The Retirement Planning tool helps you create detailed financial plans by factoring in your TPP pension, government pensions, and personal savings, giving you a clearer view of your future income.


Contact us if you have any questions about the pension estimates being generated for you.


In addition, speaking with a financial planning professional may be invaluable in helping to ensure that your financial plans are on track to helping you meet your financial retirement goals.

Nearing retirement? As your magical date draws near, consider updating your personal information in myPENSION to include your personal email address instead of your work email address. After all, you won’t be at work much longer!

Your TPP benefits are integrated with the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).

If you retire before age 65 (the age at which an unreduced CPP pension is payable):

  • Your TPP pension will include a bridge benefit to supplement your income until you qualify to start receiving the full CPP benefit (at age 65).

  • This bridge benefit will end on the last day of the month in which you turn age 65, no matter when you choose to start receiving your CPP benefits.

  • The bridge benefit is calculated using the 3-year average Yearly Maximum Pensionable Earnings (YMPE) multiplied by your years of service, and multiplied by 0.006.

Curious how the bridge benefit helps? It provides extra income up until you begin your CPP payments. Log in to myPENSION Retirement Modeling and use the defined benefits retirement estimate calculator:

  • Set some assumptions — the age/date you think you’d like to retire, annual base salary, and how much you think your salary will grow until you retire — then click to generate personalized pension estimates.
  • The Overview of all Retirement Ages feature lets you see your estimated pension at various retirement ages, showing how the bridge benefit affects your income if you choose to retire early.

Each school year, the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association (NLTA) offers pre-retirement planning seminars to help TPP members prepare for retirement.

 

Each robust series includes a session about your TPP, Preparing for Retirement, one-on-one consultations with TPPC pension analysts, a demonstration of myPENSION, the NLTA Group Insurance Plan, and more!

 

Are you planning to retire in three years or sooner? Then head over to the NLTA website for all the details!

Thinking about retirement? Here’s what you need to know.

 

You must provide written notice to your employer when planning to retire:

 

  • One month’s notice is needed if you’re retiring before Christmas break;

  • Three months’ notice is needed if you’re retiring after the Christmas break.

Before submitting your resignation, ensure you’re eligible for your pension (do you meet the eligibility requirements?) by formally confirming your retirement details with the TPPC—resigning without first confirming your eligibility could leave you without a salary or a pension!

  1. Formally confirm your eligibility date with the TPPC and request a pension estimate — contact us!

  2. Submit your resignation and do so by providing proper notice, and

  3. Apply for your pension using the Pension Application and remember to include:

    1. A copy of your birth certificate or a valid Canadian passport

    2. Direct deposit form

As you prepare for retirement, follow these foolproof steps to ensure you’ve got everything covered:

 

  1. Register and then attend the pre-retirement seminar series hosted by the NLTA (you must be within three years of your earliest retirement date to attend).

  2. Contact us for a pension estimate and eligibility confirmation.

  3. Check on purchasing eligible service (we hope you did that when you first became eligible to transfer service to the TPP).

  4. Notify your employer of your retirement plans — be sure to provide proper notice!

  5. Submit your retirement application and necessary forms and documentation — use myPENSION!

  6. Regularly check your email to ensure your pension application was received, and processed, and that your pension payments are set to begin!

 

Happy retirement!

Disclaimer


The information contained in, and the results provided by, the myPENSION Retirement Modeling tool are plan members’ information only, and are not intended to supply accurate legal or financial advice that can be relied upon to make retirement decisions. Teachers’ Pension Plan Corporation (TPPC) offers this Retirement Modeling tool for plan members’ convenience and accepts no responsibility for errors, omissions, or inaccurate or misleading statements obtained through its use. The results produced by this tool are not binding on the TPPC or its employees. It is strongly recommended that you obtain a formal pension estimate and consult with a financial planner if required before making any final decisions regarding your employment or retirement benefits.

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