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JANUARY 2019
Meet newly sworn in board members
Four TRSL members took the oath of office earlier this month to represent their colleagues on the TRSL Board of Trustees.
Neshelle S. Nogess, M.B.A. (District 1), Suzette Stelly Riddle (District 7),  Paul E. Nelson, Ph.D. (Superintendents), and Thomas F. Stafford, Ph.D. (Colleges & Universities) were elected to the board last year, and began their four-year terms this month.
District 1
Neshelle S. Nogess, M.B.A., of Lutcher, is the Director of the Sales and Use Tax Department with the St. James Parish School Board. She has been a member of TRSL for almost 20 years, and previously served on the TRSL Board from 2016-2017.
"Having served as an interim appointee from 2016-2017, I am excited to return as the elected District 1 representative for the next four years. I look forward to actively participating in the monthly board meetings and working with TRSL management, staff and consultants to uphold the principles and responsibilities of serving as a fiduciary on behalf of all members of TRSL."
District 7
Suzette Stelly Riddle, of Abbeville, is a classroom teacher and librarian at Indian Bayou Elementary School in Vermilion Parish. She has been a TRSL member for 20 years.
"I am excited about the opportunity to serve as a trustee on the TRSL Board. I will take seriously my responsibility to safeguard and manage the assets that provide retirement income for our members."
Superintendents
Paul E. Nelson, Ph.D. of Vidalia, is the superintendent of schools in Tensas Parish. He was first elected to the board in 2017 in a special election to fill a vacancy in the superintendent position. He won re-election to a four-year term last year.
"I’m thrilled to be able to return to the TRSL Board of Trustees for 2019. I appreciate the confidence state superintendents have in me and look forward to working with the staff. I was very excited about our ability to lower employer contribution rates this year and hope we are able to do so again moving forward." 
Colleges & Universities
Thomas F. Stafford, Ph.D., of West Monroe, is a professor in the College of Business at Louisiana Tech University. He has been a TRSL member since 2016.
"The security and strength of our retirement system is the most critical aspect of our individual financial security that I can imagine. My goal is to combine strategic views of the financial markets in which we invest along with business sensibilities regarding financial growth and security in order to provide advisory oversight for the assets underpinning the retirement prosperity of us all."
2019 TRSL board elections
Stay tuned for qualifying and voting information
Elections will be held this year for the three districts listed below. So, you'll be receiving important information this year about qualifying as a candidate and voting.
  • DISTRICT 2 – actively working members employed in Orleans, St. Tammany, and Washington parishes
  • DISTRICT 3 – actively working members employed in Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Lafourche, and Terrebonne parishes
  • DISTRICT 4 – actively working members employed in Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, DeSoto, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, and Webster parishes
Don’t forget! TRSL’s Board of Trustees works to protect your future retirement income. The Board invests and monitors system assets, oversees administrative operations, promotes secure retirement benefits, and most importantly represents YOU! That’s why your participation in TRSL Board elections is so important.
Good news from TRSL's FY 2018 valuation report
The latest actuarial valuation report for TRSL held positive news about the pension plan that provides retirement benefits and services for more than 195,000 members. According to the report, the financial position of the System is at its strongest since the market downturn of 2008.
TRSL’s funded status, a metric commonly used to gauge a pension plan’s financial health, has been steadily climbing since the market downturn 10 years ago. For Fiscal Year 2018, the funded status stands at 65.8%—an increase of 1.3 percentage points over last fiscal year. The uptick in the funded status can be attributed to the System’s strong investment performance, which also resulted in TRSL adding $1.5 billion in assets and increasing its market value of assets to an all-time high of $21.05 billion. Also, the unfunded accrued liability (UAL), which is debt owed by the state to TRSL, held steady at $10.5 billion.
Take a look at some of this year’s highlights below, including projected DROP interest rates, or view the entire report at www.TRSL.org.
2018 annual report now available
The Fiscal Year 2017-18 Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR)  is now available at www.TRSL.org.
The PAFR is a condensed version of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and provides an overview of TRSL’s operations, financial position, investment performance, and demographic makeup.
SAVE THE DATE: Workshops & webinars
We’ve got a ton of retirement education opportunities coming up for you this year! Check out the 2019 dates for our workshops and webinars:
DROP & Beyond
Are you participating in or working after DROP? This workshop is just for you! Get answers to questions you have about your DROP deposits, benefit payments, withdrawal options, taxes, and more!
TRSL & Social Security
Get info on the basics of your TRSL benefit and the two federal laws that can offset your Social Security benefit - Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).
Planning for your Retirement
These popular workshops will put you on the path toward retirement readiness. If you're within 10 years of DROP or retirement eligibility, this workshop is one you won't want to miss!
Just 30 minutes each, these webinars cover exactly what you need to know, based on where you are in your career. Register today and take advantage of these quick, simple retirement planning tools! 
REMINDER: New fee for actuarial calculations
As of January 1, 2019, members requesting the actuarial cost for the purchase or transfer of service credit will get one calculation for the $150 actuary fee.
Click here for more information.
Stay informed... 2019 legislative session
The 2019 regular legislative session begins Monday, April 8. You can visit the Legislation page of our website to read up on any bills being monitored by TRSL. Or we can deliver important legislative news straight to your inbox through eNews. Manage your email preferences through the link at the bottom of this email. Or click here to sign up!
  • Ensure that important TRSL emails don't get caught in your spam or junk folder by adding web.master@trsl.org to your contact list.
  • Make sure you select “legislation” as a topic of interest.
PO Box 94123 | Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9123 US
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