Today I gathered up all the documents, clipped them together and put them in a folder. It was a pretty folder I brought from home. It has a peacock on the front and gold curlicues along the sides. It says “Retirement” on the tab. I drove over to the Sonoma County Employees Retirement Association and went in the front door to hand them in. I thought I would just turn them in and get a receipt, but the receptionist told me to wait and someone would be with me to help me.
That someone was Lisa, who conducted the retirement intake interview. I guess I hadn’t really thought there would be one. She took me into a pleasant and impersonal interview room, like the interview rooms at work (a little bit less worn). She looked at my papers.
“Sixty days before your retirement date,” she said, “exactly.” Sixty days before your date is the earliest you can submit an application. Today was that day.
“Is your first day or retirement the beginning of a pay period?” She answered her own question. “Yes, it is. It looks like you have everything you need.”
“Except Spouse’s social security number,” I said.
“Oh, we have that from when you updated your beneficiary information.”
She reviewed my options with me. The unmodified option means I get a full benefit, and if Spouse outlives me, he gets about two-thirds of my benefit as long as he lives. Option 2 means I get the full benefit and he gets zero. I don’t really understand that one. Option 3 means I get about 80% of my full benefit, and he gets the same amount if I kick off before him. Since Spouse has a good retirement plan and will get Social Security, I think he can live with the he-gets-two-thirds option.
She ran briefly through a checklist on green paper. The county offers vision care to active employees but not to retired ones, but SCERA does, so for about $250/year we can get the same coverage. The county does offer a reduced dental plan for retirees.
I have filled out a few forms in my career, so the application was complete.
Lisa ran through what I can expect. I cashed out 80 hours of holiday time (spiking! Spiking!) and she asked me if I plan to cash out the 80 hours of vacation. I said yes, but closer to my termination date. I have about 400 hours of vacation and by contract I can only add 80 to my annual compensation. The rest gets paid as cash, but I can sign a form and have it go directly into my deferred compensation account.
My sick leave (about 1200 hours) gets converted to service hours. It gives me just about another six months of time.
Once I retire, I come back to a group session where I “sign up” for retirement. My money goes back to the date on this application. It will take me about six weeks from my last day of work to get a check (actually, I won’t get a check until after Christmas). The check will be for two months, but it will also have two months’ worth of medical premiums deducted, so it will be, as Lisa said, “Weird.”
Anyway, I noted down my appointment time in my Blackberry, clipped Lisa’s card into my folder, and said good-bye. I thought I was just fine, but when I got out to my car and sat down, my hands were shaking.