17
Oregon Retirement
System is Reviewed by Director
By Virgil O’Neil
Director of Retirement
The S tate of Oregon has provided a tion, beginning Ju ly 1, 1946, and p ro b
re tire m en t p lan for its em ployees since a b ly fo r several m ore to come, those
J u ly 1, 1946, and after 5 years of op e m p lb y ee S w h o have beien ^retired at
eratio n it is in terestin g to see how em 65 or m ore have received«' a very sm all
ployer and 'employee are fall&g un d er re tire m en t allow ance’.- F or,I c u rre n t
it. A n y ’ re tire m en t system w hich is service in th e first 5 years, the to tal
financially s o u n d is com plex and m onthly allow ance w ould be $1B^32 for
th erefo re h ard to u n d ersta n d inwall its e m p lo y ee l||e arn in g $2,400 a y ear or
phases. This article is not intended to niore d u rin g the first 3 years and
be ex h au stiv e in its scope, b u t is w rit $3,000 or m ore since. A t p resent,^cur
ten to b rin g to atten tio n * some of the re n t o |r v ic e of 1 y ear earns a m onthly
m atters w hich should be of in terest to 'retirem en t alio w a n ce® E $ 4 .16.
th e 10,000 St1|||g ^ m ployees who coh-?
F or em ployees who w ere in service
trib u te th eir m oney to the R etirem ent p rio r to Ju ly 1, 1946 th e re is now
F und, as w ell a s\to'¿the S tate adm in- gran ted an allow ance of $4.00 p er
istrato rs who a ^ ,c h a r g e d w ith con m onth peW year of p rio r service, lim it
tributing, * in S tate funugl an equal ed ttp r a W ^ xim um of $80 p er m onth.
share of th e em ployees actual pension P rio r to Ju ly i ^ l 9 ^ | this w as $2.50 p er
paym ents.
m o n th p er year^of'/pgior service.
Objective of the System:
- .From the above, one sees th atW res-
The objective of the System as set ent re tire d em ployees m ay be receiv
fo rth in S ection ,14w f y i e 1945 R etire-
ing a m onthly allow ance of from
m ent Law isgto
or th e regu- p r a c M g y nothing to a m axim um of
la r S tate em ployee, “a to tal service about $98, th e h ig h er figure being for
reti-rem ^ Mal ^ ^ 'ance^ro I approxim ately
those who w ere em ployed for a® |i^3 t‘
o n e-h alf his average salary during his 20 years p rio r to Ju ly 1, 1946 an® con-
la™ 5 y e ^ ^ ^ f j^ g ^ g B & fior em ployees
tinuously since to Ju n e 30, 1951.
It can I',bV appreciated th a t these
w ith 30 or m ore years of m em bership
in th e system .” F o r any em ployee en- am ounts are not enough to support a
terin g the system afte r th e age of 35 re tire d em ployee in any degree of lu x
yemfs, th e objective i$ to p rovide a, u r y and in m ost cases .com pel him td;
service re tire m en t allow ance propBr- go on charity, w ork elsew here or
tio n a |l!ly red u ced on th e basis o f ' his scrape along th e b est he can.
U nder our p resen t|^y stem , one who
,a^e w hen he first I becom es a m em ber
of the system .
is retiredL has th e follow ing reactions
The Oregon law also ^proposes- for in m ost cases: a feeling of b ew ild er
re g u la r classes of em ployees th a t re m ent, upset, w orry, u nrest, bitterness
tirem en t w ill b e at age 65\ w y ol- and uselessness. He questions w hy he
u n ta ry re tire m en t w ith reduced p en was released w hile o ther “su p eran
sion perm issible
age 60 afte r Ju ly 1, n u a te d ” em ployees have been k ep t on
1951.
th e ir jpjqs.fy
^ee^s th a t m aybe he is
Problems of Early Compulsory
no longer of value, th a t his experience
Retirement:
and judgm ent are n o t w an ted or n eed
D uring these first 5 years of o p e ra ed. H e is forced to re la tiv e idleness