Let Us Feature You!

These days, age is just a number, and no one demonstrates that more than NCRGEA members as they redefine what being retired means in 2022. To recognize that, we have started an Active & Engaged member spotlight to feature members who defy traditional ideas about life in retirement. It’s also a great opportunity for us to put a face on the members who are the heart of our organization.

Will you be part of this initiative and represent your NCRGEA district? If so, please use this link – bit.ly/activeandengaged – to fill out the Google Form to share about one of the following:

• Volunteer Efforts
• Special Skills or Second Career
• Pet Companions
• Active Physical & Mental Lifestyle

The information and photographs provided by you are shared on NCRGEA’s Facebook account and other platforms. As of this newsletter printing, five members have been featured, and their photographs and names are shared here. In addition, if you see a Spotlight on social media, we ask that you comment, “like,” and share whenever possible.
Let’s spread the word that NCRGEA is a people-first organization that is reimagining retirement.

If you don’t have easy access to sharing information online, please contact Dr. Deryl Fulmer at 919-980-6681 or deryl@rgea.info.

NCRGEA is extremely pleased with the decision filed by the North Carolina Supreme Court on March 11, 2022 holding that eligible State employees have a vested right in a noncontributory health plan for life. This Association has worked on this case, the Lake Case, to support retirees’ rights for almost 10 years.

As the Court stated, “These employees reasonably relied on the promise of this benefit in choosing to accept employment with the State. They are entitled to the benefit of their bargain, which includes eligibility to enroll in a premium-free plan offering the same or greater coverage value as the one available to them when their rights vested.”

This decision has been a long time in coming. NCRGEA is grateful to the attorneys, led by Christopher Whelchel and Michael Carpenter at the Gray Layton Kersh firm in Gastonia, with great assistance from attorneys Sam McGee and Gary Jackson, who have worked so hard for so long to protect retirees’ rights. We are also grateful to AARP and the North Carolina Association of Educators for their support.

We agree with the Court’s determination that this dispute raises issues of profound importance to the hundreds of thousands of dedicated public employees who devoted their lives to serving their fellow North Carolinians, often for far less immediate remuneration than would have been available to them in the private sector.

The Lake Case court decision may be viewed on the North Carolina Judicial Branch website at bit.ly/lakecase.

NC Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA

From the moment Russian missiles and artillery began to rain on Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa and the Donbas region of Ukraine, calls have come from the West to reject all things Russian, including the divesting of state pension plans from Russian companies and securities. As justified as these calls may be, it may not be as easy or as impactful
as you may think.

The Department of State Treasurer has held Russian securities as part of emerging markets portfolios for decades. But the Russian securities currently held in its international equity portfolio are minimal, as is the Supplemental Retirement Plan portfolio, which has holdings all within the international equity and index funds. The plans remain one of the most secure in the country, if not the world.

Other state systems have much larger Russian exposure, including the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and California State Teachers’ Retirement System, for example. They have investments of nearly $1 billion and $171.5 million, respectively.

However, getting rid of the holdings is proving to be far more complicated than hitting the “sell” button on your computer. Many financial-services providers are backing away from dealing in Russian-backed securities, and Western sanctions related to the financial and banking sectors make disposing of the assets problematic. Additionally, most holdings in Russian securities are now essentially worthless, forcing many into a difficult
decision because selling them at this time would guarantee substantial losses.

That’s why I recently called on Congress to amend federal law to give your state pension plan a pathway to recover what could be hundreds of millions of dollars in nationwide economic damages including the value of losses to the North Carolina Retirement Plans resulting from Russia’s unprovoked military attack on Ukraine.

The North Carolina House of Representatives supported my call when they unanimously passed House Resolution 981 sponsored by House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland. We are asking Congress to amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA). The act generally exempts foreign-owned property from seizure
under U.S. law, effectively prohibiting states and others from recovering adverse judgments made against other countries including Russia.