Volume 3: Issue 4
Issue Date: November 19, 2004

Materials to Help Update Your Website

Recent Florida law changes require employers to provide information to FRS-covered employees on their retirement plan choices and free educational support. The last issue of this Newsletter discussed the New Employee Certification Form, developed to help employers meet some of these new obligations. Similarly, updating your website could help you avoid possible liability for providing information that doesn't reflect current law. To assist you in making the updating process as hassle-free as possible, we?ve included a ?clickable? FRS icon you can post to your website. This icon will allow your employees to link directly from your agency website to MyFRS.com. If you wish to have additional information accompany the icon, we?ve included a text summary as an attachment.

	Get access to personalized benefits information and retirement planning information - all available at MyFRS.com
Florida Retirement System

Please contact us using the information at the end of this Newsletter to let us know if there are other ways we can help simplify updating your website or provide other FRS education materials.
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Important Enrollment Deadlines!

We will be mailing all new employees two reminder letters reminding them of their plan choice deadline. We also encourage you to provide your new employees with reminders concerning their deadlines, the availability of MyFRS.com and the toll-free MyFRS Financial Guidance Line (1-866-446-9377).

All enrollment forms must be mailed directly to the FRS Plan Choice Administrator, Citistreet. Citistreet must receive all forms by 4pm ET on the last business day of an employee's deadline month to be considered timely filed.

The table below lists all the FRS new employee retirement plan enrollment deadlines for the next 12 months.

If Hired in this Month...	Retirement Plan Choice Deadline is...
June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 200? October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005	November 30, 2004 December 31, 2004 January 31, 2005 February 28, 2005 March 31, 2005 April 29, 2005 May 31, 2005 June 30, 2005 July 29, 2005 August 31, 2005 September 30, 2005 October 29, 2005

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Investment Plan Distribution Information for Health Insurance Coverage

After obtaining the above information, the representative will research the participant account and tell you if a distribution has been taken. The representative cannot tell you the date of the distribution, the payment type or amount, or any other information.

To obtain the same type of information on Pension Plan members, you should call the Retired Payroll unit of the Division of Retirement (1-850-488-4742) and give the representative the member name and SSN.
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Member Annual Statements (MAS) in the Mail - Personal Retirement Forecast Statements Coming Soon

Most members of the FRS Pension Plan and FRS Investment Plan will also be receiving a Personal Retirement Forecast Statement, mailed to their home address. A small sample mailing of 15,000 was sent in mid-September with the remaining 600,000 of these statements being mailed in random groups through December and January.

As a reminder, the Personal Forecast will give members information on their total projected retirement income, including: FRS benefits, Social Security retirement benefits and potential retirement benefits should they leave the FRS. More importantly, the Personal Forecast will give members an estimate of how much they might need to save on their own [for example, in 457, 403(b), 401(k) plans] in order to have enough income in retirement to live comfortably.

The Personal Forecast is different than the Member Annual Statement (MAS) mailed to FRS Pension Plan members each fall. The Personal Forecast is designed to go beyond FRS benefits. It also shows retirement income in "today's dollars" applying the same convention used in annual Social Security Statements. The estimated benefits shown on the Pension Plan MAS are not adjusted for inflation (i.e., they are in future dollars). Therefore, the estimated benefit amounts shown on the Personal Forecast will not match the estimated benefit amounts shown on the MAS.

Members who are retired, in DROP, or have less than 1-year of service when the Personal Forecast is generated will not receive a new Personal Retirement Forecast Statement.

To review two samples (one Pension Plan and one Investment Plan) of the Personal Forecast Statement click here (pension) and here (investment).

If your employees have questions concerning their Personal Forecast Statement, they should call the MyFRS Financial Guidance Line toll-free at 1-866-446-9377 and choose option 1 to speak to an Ernst & Young financial planner.
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Retirement and Financial Planning Workshops for Your Employees

Check our website at http://www.myfrs.com/content/wkshp/calendar.html to see if a workshop is scheduled in your area that you feel would benefit your employees. Or, you can host your own workshop. Call the MyFRS Employer Assistance Line toll free at 1-866-FRS-2121 (1-866-377-2121), option 1 for Ernst & Young and option 3 for the Division of Retirement, to receive more information on how to bring these workshops to your employees in your workplace.
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We Want to Hear From You!

We will use your responses as part of our ongoing efforts to develop an education program that is helpful and meaningful to both you and your employees. Help us help you to be an even more effective resource for your employees.
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