Pension Flexibility: District of Columbia

Analysis of District of Columbia's policies

The District of Columbia only offers a defined benefit pension plan to its teachers as their mandatory pension plan. This plan is not fully portable, does not vest until year five and does not provide any employer contribution for teachers who choose to withdraw their account balances when leaving the system. It also limits flexibility by restricting the ability to purchase years of service.

Vesting in a defined benefit plan guarantees a teacher's eligibility to receive lifetime monthly benefit payments at retirement age. Non-vested teachers do not have a right to later retirement benefits; they may only withdraw the portion of their funds allowed by the plan. The District's vesting at five years of service limits the options of teachers who leave the system prior to this point. According to a recent report, about 19 percent of employees in the District's teacher-covered pension plan vest, meaning that 81 percent do not become eligible for a pension and, therefore, can only collect their refundable contributions.

Teachers who withdraw their funds when they stop teaching in the District only receive their own contributions. This means that teachers who withdraw their funds accrue fewer benefits than what they might have earned had they simply put their contributions in basic savings accounts that earned interest. Therefore, teachers leaving the pension system would have saved only 8 percent of their salary (see pension sustainability goal), which is significantly below the level conventionally recommended by retirement advisers for individuals not also contributing to Social Security.

While the District's relatively low mandatory contribution rate allows for flexibility in teachers' retirement savings, it also means that there is a need to educate teachers on what happens if they leave the system and encourage savings in other portable supplemental plans. Further, teachers who remain in the field of education but enter another pension plan (such as in another state) will find it difficult to purchase the time equivalent to their prior employment in the new system because they are not entitled to any employer contribution.

The District limits teachers' flexibility to purchase years of service. The ability to purchase time is important because defined benefit plans' retirement eligibility and benefit payments are often tied to the number of years a teacher has worked. The District's plan allows teachers to purchase time for previous teaching experience, up to 10 years. While better than not allowing any purchase at all, this provision disadvantages teachers who move to the District with more teaching experience. In addition, this purchase is not allowed until teachers have five years of service in the District, which makes the purchase cost much more expensive than if calculated earlier in a teacher's career. Its plan also allows teachers to be credited for up to six months of approved leave without pay for each fiscal year, as long as teachers make the mandatory contributions to the system. Maternity/paternity leave, however, is not specifically listed as an approved leave of absence.

The District of Columbia used to offer a supplementary savings option for its Teachers Plan, but it was repealed in May 2013.

Citation

District of Columbia Retirement Board Teachers' Retirement Plan, Actuarial Valuation Report as of October 1, 2015. Aldeman, C. and Rotherham, A. (2014). Friends without Benefits: How States Systematically Shortchange Teachers’ Retirement and Threaten Their Retirement Security, Bellwether Education Partners.

Recommendations for District of Columbia

Offer teachers a pension plan that is fully portable, flexible and fair.
The District of Columbia should offer teachers for their mandatory pension plan the option of either a defined contribution plan or a fully portable defined benefit plan, such as a cash balance plan. A well-structured defined benefit plan could be a suitable option among multiple plans. However, as the sole option, defined benefit plans severely disadvantage mobile teachers and those who enter the profession later in life. Because teachers in the District do not participate in Social Security, they have no fully portable retirement benefits that would move with them in the event they leave the system.

Increase the portability of its defined benefit plan.
If the District of Columbia maintains its defined benefit plan, it should allow teachers that leave the system to withdraw their contributions plus accrued interest, as well as an employer match. The District should also allow teachers to purchase their full amount of previous teaching experience upon the first day of employment, explicitly allow the purchase of paternal leave and decrease the vesting requirement to year three. A lack of portability is a disincentive to an increasingly mobile teaching force.

Offer a fully portable supplemental retirement savings plan.
If the District of Columbia maintains its defined benefit plan, the state should at least offer teachers the option of a fully portable supplemental defined contribution savings plan, with employers matching a percentage of teachers' contributions.

State response to our analysis

The District of Columbia was helpful in providing information that enhanced this analysis.