Our new approach to education
OPERS will soon stress financial wellness in outreach efforts
By Bobbie O’Neil, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System
April 12, 2018 – We’ve all heard those stories of people overspending, using credit cards as a way of supplementing their income. These types of actions have a snowball effect of accumulating more and more debt, thereby digging yourself a deeper financial hole and creating undue physical and financial stress.
OPERS recently has been conducting a lot of research about financial stress. We found that it strikes baby boomers, Generation Xers and millennials, whether from long-term needs such as savings and retirement plans, or short-term needs like everyday living expenses, unexpected bills and emergency medical costs.
In an effort to address these concerns, we are shifting our focus and developing education that integrates retirement planning with financial wellness. OPERS will continue to be your trusted retirement partner, delivering responsive, high-quality service and providing you with secure retirement benefits. Understanding that your OPERS pension serves as the foundation of your retirement security, OPERS is committed to partnering with you to achieve overall financial wellness.
Financial wellness is the balance between having a healthy state of well-being today while preparing financially for tomorrow. Our goal is to provide you with hands-on, real-life training so you can better understand your personal finances, which will enable you to make informed financial decisions toward a secure retirement.
Beginning in May, we are replacing our Education Today for Retirement Tomorrow seminars with a new, interactive workshop called, “Bridging the Gap to Financial Wellness.” The goal of this workshop is to help you assess your financial wellness, review your current spending habits and estimate your retirement income so you can identify the “gap” between what you will have in retirement and what you will need. We also will show you ways you can begin closing your gap today.
You can find information and how to schedule on our website. In the future we will be incorporating education about budgeting, managing debt, retirement savings, borrowing and Social Security. Visit the Educational Opportunities page on our website for a complete list.
Let us help you get started on a path to financial wellness!
I like this idea
One way to reduce “financial stress” on current retirees is to leave our COLA alone. Most of us cannot go back to work to make up for lost income. We paid into the system our entire working lives and we planned our retirement based on our vested rights. And as everyone knows, we only receive 3% our first year. It goes down every year from there.
Thank you for your comment.
To be honest, I get confused with your forms and Handbooks. I’m looking at a 36 page handbook that doesn’t answer some of my questions or I just don’t understand what you are planning.
Wanda,
I am sorry you are having difficulties. I suggest calling us at 1-800-222-7377 to discuss your questions with one of our member services representatives.
Julie, OPERS