Some patterns in life are certain: day follows night, autumn follows summer, and CalSTRS summer interns complete their time here enriched by the experience and having positively impacted our organization.

Pssst. Want to know a secret? More than 30,000 of your fellow CalSTRS members already do. They're participating in CalSTRS Pension2® to complement their CalSTRS benefits and help ensure their long-term financial security. You can, too.

What a deal! A chat with a CalSTRS representative about your retirement, potentially lucrative savings plans and unlimited free coffee? It’s too good to be true. Seriously, it’s too good to be true.

Springtime is here with the promise of a relaxing summer ahead, which means it’s a great time to think about preparing for the longest “summer” of your life—retirement! At CalSTRS, we know you do a lot for your students, but it’s important to take care of yourself and your future as well.

When is the right time to think about your retirement? Believe it or not, it’s now. No matter your age. The more you think about retirement now, the less likely you will worry about it later.

Paper or plastic? Rock or jazz? Regular or decaf? Life is saturated with options: some fun, some...not so much. At CalSTRS, we want to give you as many sound options as possible in saving for retirement and deciding how to structure your financial future.

If your career has just begun, and you want to make sure you’ll have a secure retirement, learn from your experienced colleagues who are now preparing to retire.

This has been a year like none other! Your hard work in the classroom has continued to bring support, joy and enthusiasm to students. And we now have more than 1 million CalSTRS members and beneficiaries. Another highlight: Our member service centers reopened for in-person service.

After your holiday and New Year’s celebrations settle down, it’s a good time to look ahead to tax season and keep an eye out for important forms from CalSTRS.

As you work through the school year, you take stock of your students by writing report cards, giving quizzes and tests, and holding parent-teacher conferences.

The Teachers’ Retirement Board, which governs the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, took an important step to support your retirement security at its August 2022 meeting. The board authorized a package of investment actions intended to help protect the CalSTRS Investment Portfolio from the negative effects of climate change.

Legislation will provide additional increases to supplemental benefits for certain retirees beginning in 2023.

As you plan for your future, remember that your loved ones are eligible to receive survivor benefits, and the one-time death benefit is an example. Starting July 1, 2022, this benefit, payable upon the death of a CalSTRS member, increased by 6.5%.

Convincing sizable companies to change their policies isn’t easy for CalSTRS or any other investor. It becomes easier, though, when investors stand together. That’s why we co-founded and are an active member of Climate Action 100+.

In January 2022, Governor Newsom issued an executive order to help California school districts address staffing shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic by allowing districts to hire retired teachers and public education personnel more quickly and efficiently.

Our lives and many of our daily rituals changed dramatically over the past two years.

Soaring prices for food, gas and other goods have almost everyone worried, especially those with fixed incomes. We offer two programs intended to ease the impact of inflation on our members.

It is said that during spaceflight, when an astronaut first looks back to gaze upon our planet they experience what is called the “overview effect”—an overwhelming cognitive shift in awareness of one's place in the universe and the fragility of life on Earth. In an instant, this reality can reshape one’s worldview, bringing our natural environment into focus, melting away national borders, and sharing in the triumph of the human spirit. At CalSTRS, we recognize our small but meaningful place in the universe and the reason for our existence.

Tax season is here and the filing deadline is approaching. While it’s too late to make adjustments for your 2022 taxable income, it’s a good time to get a head start for 2023.

As educators, your workdays start before school begins and end well after the final bell as you organize your classroom, grade papers and prepare the following day’s lesson plans. When you finally have time to peruse retirement application forms, newsletters for teachers, or educational videos related to your pensions, you deserve simplicity, efficiency and convenience.

Happy New Year! We are excited to see you as we gradually and cautiously reopen our CalSTRS in-person offices. In-person visits are just one of the many ways we can help you plan for retirement.

Whether you’re adventuring in the snow, spending quiet time with your family and friends, or something in between, we hope you’re enjoying your well-deserved holiday vacation.

When you’re beginning a new career, retirement can seem a hundred years away. But consider this: your CalSTRS retirement benefit on average will only replace 50% to 60% of your preretirement income.

We know nothing can replicate person-to-person interaction, so we appreciate and admire the way you and your fellow educators have adapted to our pandemic protocols over the past couple years.

Your annual Retirement Progress Report, which was updated in September and is available now via myCalSTRS, is a personalized overview of your CalSTRS account and benefits, including detailed information and resources for planning your financial future.

Retirement is changing rapidly around the world. The norm of winding down a career at age 65 is no longer so normal, and for many, retirement doesn’t mean a permanent departure from your craft.

At CalSTRS, we want to do more than meet your basic retirement planning needs. We want to talk to you face to face, even as we wait a little bit…

2020 was a bear of a year. But it came with a bull of a market. On July 26, 2021, we announced the CalSTRS Investment Portfolio earned 27.2% over the 12-month period ending June 30, 2021, which is well above the 7% assumed rate of return. This news was “nothing short of spectacular,” Chief Investment Officer Christopher J. Ailman said of the performance of the $308.6 billion portfolio we manage on your behalf as a CalSTRS member.

While you’re wishing your college roommate happy birthday on Facebook, sharing a new recipe on Pinterest or liking photos of your cousins on Instagram, drop by and say hi to CalSTRS.

Happy Earth Day from all of us at CalSTRS. We take seriously our responsibility to be good stewards of the earth while we secure the financial future of California’s educators. When CalSTRS makes the promise of a secure retirement to a new educator, we’re also thinking about how climate change will impact our environment by the time they retire.

Take part in CalSTRS’ Spring Into Retirement event March 22–April 8, 2021 by enrolling in any of three educational webinars. The webinars will help you understand your CalSTRS benefits, save additional retirement income, decide if it’s a good time to retire, learn how to fill out and submit your Service Retirement Application, and know what to expect in retirement.

CalSTRS recently noticed a significant increase in teacher retirements. In the second half of 2020, the number of retirements (3,202) increased 26% over the same period in 2019.

As your retirement plan, CalSTRS is dedicated to securing your financial future and helping you get there. The start of a new year provides an opportunity to check on your retirement planning and set achievable goals for the future.

CalSTRS is committed to staying connected with you in the new year, with ongoing webinars and retirement educational sessions in both individual and small group formats.