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How long will you live after you retire, and will you have enough money to live on comfortably?

Good question. That’s why – before you retire – you should think about post-retirement economic security, because few things could be worse than money running out during what are supposed to be carefree years.

A balanced retirement portfolio should resemble a three-legged stool.

The first leg is your Tier I Railroad Retirement, Social Security or CalPERS (the California retirement system for public employees), plus Tier II Railroad Retirement and/or an employer pension.

The second leg is the equity in your home, plus your personal savings, such as certificates of deposit and mutual funds.

The third leg of this financial stool are annuities, IRAs, 401(k) plans and whole life insurance.

These three financial legs are the assets to support you through retirement. The fewer legs, or the lower value of any legs, could mean a less secure financial situation during retirement.

Determining available assets before you retire is essential. You may, for example, choose to wait another year or two before retiring and build up assets in one or more legs of your financial stool.

Younger members are wise to consider these financial legs long before they retire.

The UTUIA can help build the third leg of your financial stool prior to, and even during, retirement.

UTUIA whole life policies provide a death benefit while accumulating cash value. The death benefit protects your surviving family if you die; and the cash value becomes a source of tax-deferred savings available during your retirement years.

UTUIA annuities and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) earn guaranteed interest that is tax deferred until you draw down the balance. You may invest in UTUIA annuities up to age 85.

Existing IRAs and/or employer 401(k) plans may be rolled over into a UTUIA IRA.

To learn how the UTUIA can help make your retirement more secure, talk with a UTUIA regional insurance manager, call the UTUIA toll-free line at (800) 558-8842, or click here.

So how long will you live after you retire, and will you have enough money to live on comfortably?

Precisely. And that’s why – before you retire – you should think about post-retirement economic security, because few things could be worse than money running out during what are supposed to be carefree years.

A balanced retirement portfolio should resemble a three-legged stool.

The first leg is your Tier I Railroad Retirement, Social Security or CalPERS (the California retirement system for public employees), plus Tier II Railroad Retirement and/or an employer pension.

The second leg is the equity in your home, plus your personal savings, such as certificates of deposit and mutual funds.

The third leg of this financial stool are annuities, IRAs, 401(k) plans and whole life insurance.

These three financial legs are the assets to support you through retirement. The fewer legs, or the lower value of any legs, could mean a less secure financial situation during retirement.

Determining available assets before you retire is essential. You may, for example, choose to wait another year or two and build up assets in one or more legs of your financial stool.

Younger members are wise to consider these financial legs long before they retire.

The UTU Insurance Association can help build the third leg of your financial stool prior to and even during retirement.

UTUIA whole life policies provide a death benefit while accumulating cash value. The death benefit protects surviving family if you die; and the cash value becomes a source of tax-deferred savings available during your retirement years.

UTUIA annuities and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) earn guaranteed interest that is tax deferred until you draw down the balance. You may invest in UTUIA annuities up to age 85. Existing IRAs and/or employer 401(k) plans may be rolled over into a UTUIA IRA.

To learn how the UTUIA can help make your retirement more secure, talk with a UTUIA field supervisor, or call the UTUIA toll-free line at (800) 558-8842.

The United Transportation Union Insurance Association is looking for a special person to honor as its 2010 volunteer of the year.

Do you regularly volunteer at a hospital or nursing home? Do you lead a Boy Scout or Girl Scout troop or work with the handicapped? Are you involved in some other activity that benefits those in your community?

If so, the UTUIA would like to know about it.

A panel of judges at the UTU International will review all submissions and select the 2010 volunteer of the year.

The individual selected as UTUIA volunteer of the year will receive a $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond and a plaque of appreciation from the UTUIA.

Additionally, he or she will be honored at the 2010 UTU/UTUIA regional meeting nearest his or her home, with all expenses paid by UTUIA.

Also, 20 runners up will be selected to receive certificates of appreciation for their volunteer efforts.

Nominations must be received or postmarked by Friday, March 26, 2010.

The winning individual will be notified by registered mail, and certificates of appreciation will be forwarded to runners up as soon as possible.

The decision of UTUIA judges is final. Previous nominees may be nominated again; however, former Volunteers of the Year are ineligible to receive awards.

The Volunteer of the Year program is an opportunity for the men and women of the UTUIA to let their fraternal lights shine.

It also provides an opportunity for UTUIA to recognize its volunteers for their outstanding contributions to others.

Nomination forms should be mailed to: UTUIA Volunteer of the Year, Attn.: Tony Martella, Director of Insurance, 24950 Country Club Blvd., Suite 340, Cleveland, OH 44070.

Do not forget to include a separate sheet of paper describing the applicant’s volunteer activities.

By Kim Thompson
UTU General Secretary & Treasurer

Nobody spends someone else’s dollars as carefully as we spend our own.

The UTU International leadership is especially sensitive to the fact that members entrust us with their own hard-earned dollars, and every member rightfully expects their union to gain the most value for their dues money. We do not take this obligation lightly.

Since taking office in January 2008, we have instituted new cost controls and conservative investment policies that, even in the face of significant furloughs by rail carriers and problems in financial markets, have made the UTU more efficient and financially secure.

The International’s General Fund, as detailed in the most recent GS&T report, has grown since the Futhey administration took office almost 18 months ago — from $2.1 million to $4 million, which is a 90 percent increase.

The General Fund pays for International operations, including employee wages and benefits, travel tied to assistance provided general and local committees of adjustment, and headquarters rent.

Separately, our strike fund has grown by 45 percent, to $2.7 million, and our convention fund is on track to have the necessary minimum on hand to pay traditional and contemplated costs of the eleventh quadrennial convention in 2011.

Total International funds have grown from $7.5 million, when we took office in January 2008, to more than $13 million, which is an increase of more than 70 percent. This is in the face of sharp carrier cutbacks of employees — many being UTU members — in response to a sour economy.

Among cost-cutting actions was the reduction of one full-time administrative officer in the Cleveland headquarters and redistribution of that work to headquarters staff and other International officers. We have gone from 15 full-time International officers to 11, which is more than a 25 percent reduction.

Travel expenses have been reduced by combining International officer assignments and assigning officers geographically closer to the committees they are assisting. Every travel expense is checked to ensure it is necessary and proper.

Our International funds are invested conservatively so they are available when needed without undue risk of principal.

Our investment advisers are paid directly for sound financial advice and do not profit by moving our money from one investment alternative to another, or as a percentage of short-term investment gains. As a result, our International finances have withstood the effects of this recession and associated financial calamities far better than most organizations.

The UTUIA, meanwhile, earned more than $300,000 from operations during the first quarter of 2009. The UTUIA remains strong with more than $23 million in surplus, as recently validated through an annual audit.

As for the DIPP, premiums exceeded claims for the first quarter 2009, which boosted the fund’s balance. We continue monitoring this fund, as claims are tied directly to the level of carrier discipline.

We have met — and continue to meet — with carrier officers to discuss what we consider to be arbitrary discipline that unjustifiably damages employee morale, impeding our ultimate goal of providing world-class transportation service.

At the local level, we are assisting local treasurers through workshops, individual assistance and the UTU University to better equip them to carry out their duties in managing their local’s funds.

The financial state of the United Transportation Union is strong and secure, and we intend to keep it that way through careful spending and improved productivity within every department and through every activity of the International.

Brothers and Sisters:

As we approach the six-month point of our administration, we are pleased to report that UTU finances have been improving steadily.

When we took office Jan. 1, there were forebodings of financial disaster just around the corner. For sure, there were financial difficulties, but nothing of the nature that, as we had been told, required us to surrender our independence to another organization to bail us out.

In fact, the combination of internal cost reductions — including an end to wasteful spending — plus additional dues dollars have increased our total International funds by more than $2 million. While that certainly seems like a lot of money, our cash on hand is still shy of a minimum safety level sufficient to weather strikes and other unexpected costs.

So long as we are not hit with a sudden financial shock, we will continue to add to our fund balances, each day growing financially stronger. We are pledged to continue strict cost controls — especially with regard to travel — in the face of sharply higher airline fares and health-care costs for our International staff.

The surplus of the United Transportation Union Insurance Association also continues to increase, and the surplus is on track to grow in excess of half-a-million dollars in calendar year 2008.

This is result of additional policy sales and a favorable trend in claims presented.

The UTUIA is one of the nation’s few remaining union-friendly insurance companies. Where competing insurance companies frequently are engaged in anti-union activities, such as lobbying for corporate-favored public policy, the UTUIA is an insurance company owned by union members, and it operates solely for the benefit of union families.

As for our Discipline Income Protection Plan (DIPP), it continues to face financial pressures flowing from the continued excessive discipline being issued by some carriers.

We recognize also that UTU members have been stepping up to the plate and supporting DIPP with their participation.

And we remain proud that the UTU DIPP remains steadfast in looking for ways to pay claims of participants. By contrast, other job benefit plans continue to look for ways to avoid paying claims.

As we have said previously, if the DIPP is to remain a viable service to UTU members, then UTU members must participate in large numbers. We again ask all participants to continue their membership in the DIPP fund, and to encourage your brothers and sisters also to participate.

In solidarity,

Mike Futhey, International President

President@utu.org

Arty Martin, Assistant President

AsstPres@utu.org

Kim Thompson, General Secretary & Treasurer

GST@utu.org