New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Fails

When I was hit with the news of my diagnosis, I had a lot of decisions to make, and they needed to be made quickly.

I went through an intense period of  paperwork for both the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board and New Mexico Retiree Health Insurance, the latter of which has been assessing fees from the salaries of education employees since the 1990s so that the monies of current employees could help retirees.

When I made my last visit to the office of the Educational Retirement Board in Albuquerque, hand carrying papers from a previous employer that they had delayed telling me I'd need in addition to those from the school where I was then employed, I specifically asked if those were all the papers they needed. I asked if there were more forms I'd need to complete. I was assured that was all and that my first retirement check would be deposited February 28.

That was absolutely untrue.  I've now received notice that additional documents must be completed and returned to them--by this past January, although they didn't send notice of that until February, and I did not receive the mailing until this weekend when I made it to the post office.

I did speak to a supervisor, but was told there is no way I can receive a payment before March 31, 2018.  He admitted that perhaps the ERB Retirement Board employee had been inadequately trained, but payment cannot be expedited because "the checks have already been cut."  Given that the deposits are electronic, that statement is also false.

I also learned they've not yet uploaded the papers I did submit in January.  Am I to infer this is a very busy time because of all the teachers retiring right now?  Actually,  I know most retirees wait until the end of the school year.

A couple days before I retired I received a phone call from someone named Linda who identified herself as legal counsel for the ERB.  She said my pension funds could not be released because they were being contested due to my divorce.  I told her that was very interesting since I've never been married.  She said she would take care of it.

The point of this post is to advise New Mexico education employees planning to retire that the Educational Retirement Board will not necessarily relay accurate information even when asked directly and that the Board will take advantage of opportunities to delay payments.

My next chemo appointment is Thursday, unless my blood tests results are inadequate.

I really, really need things to go smoothly. and this latest development has been the biggest downer of my cancer journey so far.  I definitely did not need this, and it's hard not to feel discouraged.

Dora