I’m really happy to be able to say that the book, TL;DR: Financial Literacy for Ohio Public School Teachers: Optimizing Financial Decisions Based on Your STRS Benefits is now available at Amazon. I had the pleasure to work with Karl Fisch to co-author the book. This is yet another book in a series that Karl has been publishing for several years about retirement and financial planning for teachers. The book series is focused on giving specific information related to the state pension system for which the book was written.
Why did I want to help Karl write this book? I heard Karl and different co-authors of his books speak about the books, what the books were about, and who the books were targeted for, which really spoke to me about how teachers deserve to be treated better when it comes to retirement planning. Too often, first year teachers are so overwhelmed with their work that they don’t have the time or prior exposure to investing to make good decisions in selecting a 403b or 457b. Many times these first and second year teachers are approached by insurance salespersons, and offered expensive annuities that will cost them 30 to 40% of their lifetime returns, never knowing they had other options. My wife was one of those teachers, long before we were married, she had been approached by a salesperson and sold a NEA Valuebuilder Annuity. It’s not surprising either, when a teacher has someone come into their classroom to talk with them about their retirement, the teacher will assume that this person is here to help me, why else would the school district allow this person into my classroom, right? The issue is that the salesperson visiting these teachers is not a fiduciary, meaning they don’t have to act in the best interest of teacher. So, even though the teacher could select from over a hundred different options from over a dozen different providers, they only see the ones that the salesperson is interested in selling them. Should we treat our teachers this way, I don’t think we should, but the law currently isn’t structured to protect teachers from predatory salespersons. What can be done? Educate our teachers on their options in Ohio, which is exactly what our book aims to do.
Do you know a teacher in Ohio? Do they have a good understanding of STRS and their investing options in either a 403b or 457b? If they have questions, they have options to learn more. Getting good financial advise is important, but it’s not easy to find a fee only fiduciary advisor. This book can help a teacher get a baseline of knowledge about their retirement planning. Karl and I are also willing and wanting to talk with teachers about their retirement planning journey.
If you have questions about the book, retirement planning, personal finance, or related topics just reach out to me, I am happy to help if I can.