Monthly Account Statements as of June 30, 2017 are now available through the secure section of our website.

In-service members can access their account balances, loan information, and investment elections. Members with TDA Deferral status can access their TDA account balances, investment elections, and loan and RMD information.

TRS' enhanced login process will provide a new level of security for your online TRS account information.

After July 16, you will initially need to select a security image when you log in; the image will appear on subsequent logins to confirm you are logging in to the official TRS site. In addition, if you forget your password or we don't recognize the computer you're using, we’ll send you a verification code to verify your identity.

We've also enhanced our registration process. So, if you've never created a username and password to access your TRS information online, now’s a great time to do it!

TRS offices will close at 1 p.m. on Fridays this summer, from July 7 through September 8. Please keep this in mind when calling or visiting TRS. As an alternative, we encourage you to take advantage of our other convenient member service resources—the TRS website and our automated phone system at 1 (888) 8-NYC-TRS—which are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We have posted an updated edition of our Spring 2017 In-Service News and Benefits Report newsletters. This edition corrects errors that previously appeared on page 2 of each newsletter and on page 2 of the insert about the upcoming Balanced Fund. We regret these errors. On the Newsletters page, you can view the corrected Spring 2017 issues or choose an issue from our archives dating back to 2011.

When you file for retirement, TRS will provide a receipt that you should submit to your employer when you apply for retiree health benefits. The employer will not accept your health benefits application without this receipt, so please visit TRS first.

During June, representatives from the Department of Education will be at TRS' Member Services Center to receive health benefits applications from retiring employees. The DOE representatives are scheduled to be present each business day from June 8 through June 30 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. They usually meet with retiring employees in a group, with the last group being seen at about 3:30. Members who are age 65 or older will need to show a copy of their Medicare card or award letter in order to meet with the DOE representatives.

Please keep this information in mind when planning your visit to TRS to file for retirement!

TRS offers free educational programs to eligible members throughout the year. To view our schedule of offerings through August 2017, visit Educational Programs under Resources; then open the Onsite Educational Programs bar. Eligible members can register for programs after logging in to the secure section.

Account statements for the period ending March 31, 2017 are now available for online viewing in the secure section of our website.

The Quarterly Account Statement (QAS), for in-service members and certain members on leave, summarizes account information for members' Qualified Pension Plan and, if applicable, Tax-Deferred Annuity Program accounts.

The TDA Quarterly Statement, for members with TDA Deferral status, summarizes TDA account information for members who are maintaining a TDA account after retirement (or, in some cases, resignation).

Printed statements have been mailed to members' home addresses. If you currently receive your quarterly statements in the mail, consider opting out of the mailing and viewing the statement online instead. To change your mailing preference, select My Profile after logging in to the secure section of our website. To ensure that you receive emails from TRS, please add noreply@trs.nyc.ny.us to your address book.

TRS has begun to contact about 40,000 members who owe pension contributions on some past earnings. In this situation, known as a "deficit," TRS calculates the amount due and sends members a letter with payment options. Deficit letters will be mailed through late April.

For many of these members, pension contributions are owed on the first lump-sum payment made under the recent United Federation of Teachers contract. (These payments, made in October 2015 or later, represented back pay due under the contract. Now that we have all necessary data from the employer, TRS needs to collect required contributions on any contract-related back pay. If you were making pension contributions during the period that the back pay represents, then you will have a "deficit" now.)

Members who are in the Age 55 Retirement Program may receive two separate deficit letters—one for their basic pension contributions, and then one for the Additional Member Contributions required under the Age 55 Retirement Program.

Although these letters do not explicitly state the reason for a deficit (e.g., the October 2015 payment, for some), they do indicate the pay periods for which the contributions are owed.

The letters also explain the available payment options:

• Deficits of $50 or less will be automatically deducted from the member’s pay (before taxes).
• Deficits over $50 may be paid by check within approximately 30 days.
• Deficits over $50 may be paid through deductions from the member’s pay (before taxes) over multiple pay periods. Payment plans will begin automatically unless the member submits a timely payment or response to the deficit letter.

Not all payment options are available in all cases, so please read your deficit letter to see which options apply to you.

Members of the UFT are reminded that, under the recent contract, additional lump-sum payments are scheduled for October 2017, October 2018, October 2019, and October 2020. After each of those payments, TRS will again contact members who have deficits in pension contributions as a result.

The Internal Revenue Service recently announced that 2017 contribution limits for retirement plans, including Section 403(b) plans such as TRS' TDA Program, will remain the same as they were for 2016. The general maximum contribution amount remains at $18,000; the limit on additional "catch-up" contributions for members age 50 and older also remains unchanged at $6,000.

Qualifying members who worked in the World Trade Center Rescue, Recovery, or Cleanup Operations between September 11, 2001 and September 12, 2002 may file a Notice of Participation (code DI40) with TRS. Beneficiaries of qualifying members who died without having filed this form may file the beneficiary version of the Notice of Participation (code DI40b). TRS must now receive the Notice of Participation and, if applicable, an Authorization for Release of Health-Related Information (code DI47) by September 11, 2018.

Please see the World Trade Center Presumptive Disability and Death Benefit Laws information sheet for a list of qualifying conditions or impairments of health and other important information.