The Fall 2014 issue of The Guardian, MRPEA’s newsletter is complete.  We hope you will enjoy this issue.  The Guardian Fall 2014 FINAL (1)

The Summer 2014 edition of MRPEA’s Newsletter, The Guardian, is attached for your information and use. This is our last newsletter in this fiscal year.  We hope you will enjoy articles such as reports on recent board and annual meetings held, election of officers, and other such information.  One of our goals is to increase our membership.  In keeping with that goal, contact information for district directors is included in this publication.  They want to visit with you and your groups to share more with you about MRPEA. We hope you will find the information not only interesting but helpful! The Guardian Summer 2014

Dear MRPEA Members,

Most of you are aware that the administrator for the Deferred Comp program at PERS has been changed to Great-West beginning this year.  When the contract with the previous administrator (SBA/ING) expired, they were not able to renew the contract and continue providing the same services at the same cost as in the past.  Consequently, the PERS Board accepted bids for these services. Great West provided the best proposal for Deferred Comp services, and their bid was accepted – for a 5 year contract.

The services provided by Great West are essentially the same as in past years, but, obviously, there will be some differences.  Great West representative Connie Stevens recently visited with MRPEA Vice President Becky Cade & me to discuss how we might assist them in getting out information about the company and to announce a number of seminars which will be held in Mississippi to allow retirees to have access to company representatives to listen and to ask questions.  A flier provided by Great West is being attached to this correspondence. Please read the attachment and help us to get the word out to retirees who are interested in attending one of the seminars.  (Refer to attached documents:  Deferred Comp Plan – Employees or Deferred Comp Plan – Retirees.)

Seminars will cover topics ranging from retirement planning to investment options to making a budget.  Ron Nichols, the Retiree Advocate for Great-West Financial, will provide practical advice for those who will retire within 10 years.  Seminars are typically 2 hours in length.

Thank you for your service to the state of Mississippi and for being a member of MRPEA.  I hope you will let us know when we can be of service to you in any way.

Sincerely Yours,

Howell C. Garner

Dr. Howell Garner, President of MRPEA, has recently distributed a questionnaire among both those candidates running for PERS board members to represent the Municipal and state employee positions on the Board.  Please contact mrpea@bellsouth.net for results as interested.

A specially appointed committee of the Board recently reviewed MRPEA’s Constitution and By-Laws.  Please refer to the attached suggested revisions ( Changes recommended ‘5’12 (1)) and a copy of the revised documents as proposed, MRPEA Constitution&By-laws (1)  These changes will be presented for final approval at the Annual Meeting on May 12, 2014.

The Spring 2014 edition of MRPEA’s Newsletter, The Guardian, is attached for your information and use.  Included, but not limited, is important information and reports about MRPEA’s members, recent board work, the status of the state retirement system, and how to become a member of MRPEA.  We hope you will find the information not only interesting but helpful!  The Guardian Spring 2014

Provided for your information and use is the Winter edition of your MRPEA Newsletter.  All are encouraged to read the articles to learn more about the work of our board.  Access The Guardian by clicking on the following words:  The Guardian Winter 2013

Provided for your information and use is a copy of the Fall 2013 Newsletter.  We hope you will find this information interesting and informative.  The Guardian_Fall2013

Thank you for the confidence you placed in me at the annual MRPEA meeting by electing me to be your President.  Over one hundred people were present at the meeting which was held at the Hilton in Jackson on Thursday, July 25.  At that meeting I made a commitment to work hard toward two goals in particular:  to increase our membership and to continue to improve our communication with members.

This letter went out by email to those for whom we have an email address and was mailed to those members for whom we do not have an email address.  We want to do our very best to provide you with information in the most effective and efficient way possible. If you have an email address, but are still receiving correspondence by regular mail, please consider providing MRPEA (mrpea@bellsouth.net) with your email address for future correspondence. The advantages of correspondence by email are that it is quicker, and less expensive, since there is no cost for postage, stationery or envelopes.  We simply want to provide you the best service at the lowest possible cost.

We will be publishing the next issue of The Guardian newsletter within a few weeks to provide important information about your organization.  In the meanwhile, some basic information about MRPEA is provided on this website.  (Refer to MRPEA Know The Facts and MRPEA Current Officers & Board Members.)

Mrs. Pat Robertson, Executive Director of PERS, and Dr. Eric Clark, Executive Director of the Mississippi Community College Board (MCCB) were keynote speakers for the Annual Meeting.  Mrs. Robertson gave the audience an update on the PERS system.  Mrs. Robertson shared some good news with us – the assets in the PERS system have had substantial growth this past year (See Fact Sheet)!  Dr. Clark discussed the system from the perspective of a participant in the system, having served in several positions within state agencies, including MS Legislature, Secretary of State, college professor and as an agency head at the MCCB.  More information provided by both of these speakers will be included in the next issue of The Guardian.

Did you know that PERS members number 384,056. The total number of households in Mississippi was 1,081,052 in 2010. The total number of voters in the last statewide election was 893,468.