The Foundation for a Secure Retirement
By Bret Henry
I hope this finds you well and preparing for your retirement. There are a myriad of topics
to write about concerning retirement. However, due to a limited amount of space, I will
cover some basic topics and point you to where you can find more information.
Refundable vs. Non-refundable Contributions
As a 38-year resident of Yucca Valley, and with my 33 years of experience providing emergency services throughout the county of San
Bernardino, I am properly positioned to assume a management role with the Town.
Retirement Age
Safety-designated employees have an option to choose refundable or nonrefundable retirement contributions. You exercise this choice when hired, and
then once a year in open enrollment. However, there have been rumors over the
last year that the option to choose may be taken away. If that occurs, you will
have to choose one or the other at some point, and then stick with that for the
duration of your career.
I am proud to have the support of San Bernardino County Professional Firefighters as I campaign for a seat on the Yucca Valley Town Council.
Some have asked about retiring with 20 years of service. You have perhaps been
mistakenly told that you can retire after working 20 years regardless of age, and
the “50” in the “3 at 50” calculation “doesn’t mean anything.” This is wrong. To
clear this up, you can retire with 20 years of service in the county; however, your
benefit is calculated at a reduced rate per year if you are not 50 years of age. For
example, if you started with the county at 20 years old, you could retire at age
40, earning approximately 40 percent of your highest year. You must be vested
AND 50 years old to get three percent credit for every year worked. Hope this
clears this matter up.
Which to choose? In short, the difference between the two options means you
are either eligible to get back your contributions, or not, if you leave employment
with the county. As they say, the devil is in the details, and this is a very complex
issue with many variables. Following are a few facts of the matter.
• Your contributions are very slightly less when you choose “non-refundable.”
In theory, if you were already vested in SBCERA (which requires five years of
employment) and you left employment with the county, you probably would not
choose a refund but a deferred retirement in the future.
• If you were to leave the county prior to being vested, you would only get back
your contributions if you chose “refundable.” Many believe that until you are
vested you should select this option.
• Some choose to stay “refundable” at a slightly higher contribution rate because,
in the event of death, your beneficiaries have more options with the benefit that
they would receive.
These are only the basics of the issue, and ultimately this a personal value choice
where you will need to do some research. Please visit www.sbcera.org to find a
wealth of information on this issue. At the bottom of the page, under “Resources
and Retirement 101s,” you’ll f [