Retirement Planning

We understand that retirement planning can be a daunting task.  We have various resources available to help you navigate your defined benefit plan and what it means for you in retirement.
Retirement Seminar

Retirement Seminars are hosted twice a year in January and July.  These include valuable presentations from FCERA representatives, the Social Security Administration, Nationwide Deferred Compensation, Retired Employees of Fresno County (REFCO), and Human Resources.  Retirement Seminars are recommended for members who are around 5 years away from retirement.  Typically we have around 130 members in attendance.  If you would like more information or to sign up, please contact us.

Retirement Workshops

Retirement Workshops are held once a month with a small group of up to 10 members.  In advance of the workshop, each member will provide FCERA with 3 potential retirement dates.  The Retirement Specialists will prepare benefit estimates for those 3 dates, and then go over the information in a small group setting (with each member only viewing their own information).  The information covered in the workshop is very similar to what is included in one-on-one counseling sessions when you are ready to sign your application.  Workshops are recommended for those who are 1-5 years away from retirement.  If you would like more information or to sign up, please contact us. We will contact you with the next available workshop dates.

*Currently our Retirement Workshops are on hiatus, while we do not have an official return date, we do anticipate the workshops returning in the near future.  Please visit our website for future updates. 

Member Portal

This is the most self-sufficient way to plan your retirement.  If you are not already registered, click here for instructions.

The Member Portal is your online access to your defined benefit plan.  It gives you the ability to view your personal information and verify that your beneficiaries are up to date.  You can also see your years of service credit, employment summary, service credit available to purchase, and contribution balance. And of course – you can run retirement benefit estimates!

If you ever wondered…

  • What is the earliest date I can retire and how much would I receive?
  • What happens to my benefit if I take a promotion and increase my final compensation?
  • What will I get if I wait until age 62? 65? 63 and three-quarters?
  • What if I stop working next year, but wait another 10 years to take my retirement benefit?
  • What if I change my beneficiary? What happens to their benefit?
  • What if I want to work until I hit a specific benefit amount?

… then the Member Portal can help! Get instructions, tips, and tricks by watching this tutorial.

Counseling Sessions

When you have decided on the day you’d like to retire, contact us up to 90 days prior. You will be assigned to a Retirement Specialist, who will contact you to schedule a counseling session to go over your retirement options.  Counseling sessions typically take 45 minutes to an hour.  Retirement involves a lot of decisions, like what option will you choose in retirement?  Who will you list as your beneficiary? Is the Temporary Annuity Option right for you?  The Retirement Specialist can help you with information regarding these questions, but they cannot decide for you.  Your spouse, other family member, or financial planner is welcome to attend with you, however we strongly discourage bringing children as it can be hard to focus on the information you are receiving.  Some members decide to take a day to decide on an item like what option to choose in retirement.

Best of luck in your retirement planning!