The Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois is an American

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

government agency dealing with

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

s and other financial benefits for teachers and other workers in education in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Purpose

The

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

created the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS or the System) in 1939 for the purpose of providing retirement

annuities In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals.Kellison, Stephen G. (1970). ''The Theory of Interest''. Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc. p. 45 Examples of annuities are regular deposits to a savings account, mo ...

, and disability and survivor benefits for

educators A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

employed in public schools outside the city of

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. The System's

enabling legislation An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to car ...

is in the Illinois Pension Code at 40 ILCS 5/16-101

Membership

TRS members fall into the following categories: active, inactive, annuitant, and beneficiary. Active members are full-time, part-time, and substitute

public school personnel employed outside the city of Chicago in positions requiring licensure by the

Illinois State Board of Education The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) administers public education in the state of Illinois. The State Board consists of nine members who are appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate. Board members serve four-year terms, wit ...

. Persons employed in certain state agencies and statewide or national organizations related to education are also active TRS members. As of June 30, 2021, there were 159,027 active members. Inactive members are no longer contributing to the System but have service credit that will entitle them to draw a benefit or refund when statutory eligibility requirements are met. As of June 30, 2021, there were 145,769 inactive members. Annuitants are persons receiving a retirement annuity or disability retirement annuity. Beneficiaries are persons receiving a survivor benefit or reversionary annuity. As of June 30, 2021, there were 127,518 annuitants and beneficiaries.

Benefits

Subject to various qualification requirements, members and annuitants of TRS may be eligible for a range of benefits including: *retirement annuity *death benefits *disability benefits *

health insurance Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...

(post-retirement)

Funding

TRS has several sources of funding: * member contributions, * investment income, * employer contributions, and * appropriations from Illinois state government.

Creation of Tier II

Public Act 96–0889, which was signed into law in the spring of 2010, adds a new section to the Pension Code that applies different benefits to anyone who first contributes to TRS on or after January 1, 2011 and does not have previous service credit with a pension system that has reciprocal rights with TRS. These members are referred to as “Tier II” members. Changes from the “Tier I” pension law include raising the minimum eligibility to draw a retirement benefit to age 67 with 10 years of service, initiating a cap on the salaries used to calculate retirement benefits, and limiting cost-of-living annuity adjustments to the lesser of 3 percent or half of the annual increase in the

Consumer Price Index A consumer price index (CPI) is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Changes in measured CPI track changes in prices over time. Overview A CPI is a statistica ...

, not compounded. The retirement formula is unchanged. The new pension law does not apply to anyone who has TRS service prior to January 1, 2011. These members remain participants of Tier I.

References

External links

Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS)
{{authority control State agencies of Illinois Public pension funds in the United States