TSA Trust Goes Online
By Amir Zaman
WEA Insurance
employee benefits specialist
May 1999
weatsa.com puts services at your fingertips
The
WEA Tax Sheltered Annuity Trust (WEA TSA Trust) is now just a mouse click
away. Information about WEAC’s not-for-profit program, designed solely
to help public school employees save for retirement, is now accessible
on the Internet. You can learn about what investment options the Trust
offers, request an application for opening an account, contact the TSA
staff, and do a variety of other things by going to the new Web site at
www.weatsa.com.
As the accompanying figure shows, there are five categories on the main
page of this Web site. Here’s a brief explanation of the type of
information and resources that are available to you through some of the
categories:
Getting Started
As
the title suggests, click on this icon and you will get an overview of
what the WEA TSA Trust offers. You can learn about the usual sources of
income people have during retirement, and how a tax-sheltered annuity
(TSA) can help you save for retirement. If you’ve ever wondered how
much you can and should save, you can go to the Retirement Calculator
under this section and plug in numbers for different scenarios on savings
and retirement. For example, you can find out how much money you will
have at retirement if you save $1,000 a year and earn an 8% return. You
can also use the Pay Comparison Calculator to estimate what will happen
to your paycheck if you change the amount you’re contributing to
your TSA.
Member Services
Click
on this icon and you can look up information about the investment options
that are available from the Trust. For example, you can learn about the
guaranteed account and the mutual funds that are available, and you can
read about each fund’s investment objective, its risk level, and
past performance. This is also the place where you can order any forms
that you need to either start or maintain an account.
Retirement Planner
Click
here to create a financial plan for the rest of your life. Individuals
who have or start an account with the TSA Trust can download the WEA TSA
Trust Retirement Planner, a software program which helps you plan for
retirement. The Retirement Planner interviews you to learn more about
your current financial situation, retirement goals, portfolio, and investment
strategies, and uses that information to help you develop a plan. It helps
you determine how much money you’ll need to retire comfortably. Individuals
who have an account with the TSA Trust and already have a copy of the
Retirement Planner can download updates.
News & Events
If
you’d like to learn about retirement planning through seminars, click
on this icon. The Trust’s retirement consultants present seminars
around the state for public school employees. You can learn what the seminars
cover and when they are being presented.
Account Information Line (AIL) has Spanish language option
If you are a WEA TSA Trust account holder, and your primary language
is Spanish, the Trust’s Account Information Line (AIL) system allows
you to access your account information through a touch-tone phone in either
English or Spanish. The number is 1-800-279-2490.
You can use the AIL to change your current WEA TSA Trust contributions,
redistribute your existing account balance, obtain information about your
account balances, request forms and brochures, and check investment performance.
To access your account through the AIL, you will need your Social Security
number and your personal identification number (PIN), which you receive
when you enroll in the WEA TSA Trust.
Posted May 5, 1999