Summary of Services and Publications

Benefits Consultations

Personal and video consultations give you the opportunity to meet individually with a NYSTRS representative at a site near you. During the consultation, you can discuss your benefits and inquire about prior service and legislation. You can leave with printed estimates of your retirement benefits under various scenarios.

Our video consultations are live, face-to-face communications with a staff member in Albany. They are offered at more than 15 sites across the state. Meanwhile, personal consultations are available at more than a dozen locations statewide. For a list of consultation sites and scheduling information, refer to the Benefits Consultations page of our website. A schedule is also mailed to your employer to be posted in a convenient location.

Workshops

Pension & Retirement Education Program (PREP)

No matter how far along you are in your career, this program can be tailored to fit your needs. A variety of retirement-related topics are covered during the program, with members able to choose which would be of greatest benefit. Schedules are sent to each school building and are posted on our website.

Group Presentations

System staff will visit your school upon request to deliver group presentations on various topics. Presentations may be tailored to cover new member orientation, general System benefits, the concerns of mid-career teachers, legislation such as a state retirement incentive, filing for retirement, or any combination of these topics. To learn more or to schedule a presentation, call (800) 348-7298, Ext. 2914.

Website

Visiting our website at www.nystrs.org is the quickest and easiest way to get updated information and news related to your benefits. Here you can:

• Access your personal membership information and view your annual Benefit Profile with a MyNYSTRS account;  

• Use the Benefit Estimator to project retirement benefits;

• Print System forms and publications from our library;  

• Check the status of legislation; 

• Link to other pertinent sites;

• See benefits consultation and Pension & Retirement Education Program (PREP) schedules; and,

• Search our unclaimed funds database. 

Benefit Profile

Each year, you will receive a personalized Benefit Profile, or member annual statement. This comprehensive document provides a summary of your service credit, contribution and loan information, and your beneficiary designation. Current and future benefit projections, as well as other pertinent information, are also included.

Telephone Assistance

800 Phone Service

Staff is available daily from 8:30 a.m.-4:15 p.m. Monday-Friday (8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday during the summer) to answer your questions on our toll-free telephone line. You can reach us by calling (800) 348-7298 or (518) 447-2900 from the Albany area. (Hint: We receive the most calls after school, so call earlier to avoid delays.)

Hotline 

Call (800) 782-0289 to request System forms and publications, and to listen to recorded messages about NYSTRS benefits. This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Publications

NYSTRS produces a variety of publications to help our members plan for retirement at each stage of their career. Get your copy of these publications by calling our Hotline at (800) 782-0289 or on the Library page at www.nystrs.org.

The active member newsletter Your Source is published three times annually. The publication keeps you informed of legislative changes, System news, and topics of general interest to help you plan for a healthy and prosperous retirement.

Resource, the retiree newsletter, is published three times a year. It addresses topics of concern to our retired members, including cost-of-living adjustments, earnings after retirement, and legislative changes.

Your First Look at NYSTRS is a pamphlet for new or prospective members, outlining the benefits of joining the System. A copy is provided with your membership card when you join the System. Those who work less than full time and are thinking about joining should refer to the pamphlet.

The Active Members' Handbook provides an overview of the System's benefit structure and addresses the complex concerns and questions you may have about your membership.

NYSTRS and You is a kit sent to you when you achieve vesting rights. It contains information to help you develop a comprehensive financial plan for your future.

You Deserve the Credit provides information on how to build your service credit by examining your prior, military, reinstated and transferred service.

Military Service is a guide to obtaining military service credit.

If You Are No Longer Able to Work guides you through the process of filing for disability retirement. If you find yourself unable to teach due to illness, this pamphlet will help with some of the important decisions you will face.

Countdown to Retirement reviews the steps to take in the year of your retirement to make sure you receive all the benefits for which you are eligible.

The Retirement Countdown video also outlines the steps to take in your final year at work in preparation for retirement.

Maximum or an Option: Choosing a Benefit Payment Right for You is a review of your benefit payment choices to help you make an informed decision regarding your retirement benefit.

The Retired Members' Handbook addresses retiree concerns such as cost-of-living adjustments, earnings in retirement, benefit payment dates, and tax information.

The Path to Retirement: Understanding the Retirement Process, a guide for new NYSTRS retirees, explains how your benefit is processed.

Working in Retirement outlines earnings limits and their effect on a NYSTRS retirement benefit.

Discovering Retirement is a publication sent to all new retirees as they begin retirement. It provides information that will be helpful to meet the needs of our retirees in adjusting to the many changes they will face in retirement.