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MINUTES OF THE NEREA EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING - December 3, 2009

     A. The quarterly meeting was held in the front office conference room, in the NEXCOM Headquarters Building in Virginia Beach, Va. Members present: Bill Harper (president), Tom Cunningham (Treasurer), Barbara Rath (secretary), directors John Brown, Mario Canu, Robert Elszy, George Horey, Michael Paolantonio, Peter Peugeot, and J. Van Heiningen and Ex-Officio members Pat Byrne and Bill Ferguson. Nancy Collette (Newsletter) was also present. Members absent were Herbert Friedland (vice president), Rudolph (director) Jane Hoffman (director), Thomas Rowe (director) and Bill Butler (ex-officio).

     B. The meeting was called to order by Bill Harper at 7:05pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.

ORDER OF BUSINESS:

     1. Bill Harper spoke about the great job Nancy Collette did on the Newsletter and how well it was received.

     2. The minutes of the September 15, 2009 were read and approved by all.

     3. Bill Harper introduced and welcomed Barbara Rath the new secretary replacing Nancy Collette who has taken over the Newsletter.

     4. Bill Harper talked briefly about NEX retires getting new ID cards. They will be replacing the present ones with an entirely new look.

     5. Bill Harper and several members commented on how efficient the Military Reunion Planners were

in responding back to them with their packages for the 2010 convention. They said they responded back to them very quickly by e-mail and also by mail service. Bill also said how helpful Barbara Montoya has been in planning and getting organized for the 2010 San Diego Convention.

     6. Tom Cunningham gave the Treasurer's report. He passed 2 separate hand outs: Statement of Financial Income and Expense, Jan. thru Nov. 2009 with 2008 figures for comparison and a quarterly statement of funds 9-9-09 to 11-30-09. As of 11-30-09 checking account balance is $2,049.60 and savings balance is $31,216.83. Treasurer's report was approved by all.

     7. Tom Cunningham suggested that we try to use our E-mail addresses and make the Newsletter more interesting by adding pictures, and putting information in about new exchanges as well as the makeover of the old ones. Also to include some information on who's who in the exchange, Etc. This will be to try to interest more retires in NEREA and to try to boost our membership. Tom also talked about our new Communiqué Service for mailing and how cost efficient they are and the savings we made from last year at this time.

     8. George Horey praised Tom Cunningham for a job well done as treasurer and how he is trying to get the BOD to get involved (all Committees) to raise our membership in NEREA.

     9. COMMITTEE REPORTS:

        (a) John Brown handed out copies of the revised Ethics/Administration Committee responsibilities to all. The Scholarship by Laws were also handed out, but needs some rewrites.

        (b) George Horey reported the Scholarship fund has a balance of $1,295.17. There are 6 applications to date for 2010 and he feels that we have to ask for more funding from our treasurer. Several past recipients of the Scholarships have written to George Horey about themselves to let us know how they are doing. George said the letters will appear in the future in the Newsletter.

       (c) Bill Harper reported the Convention Committee will make phone calls to the different NEREA chapter presidents to get input about different convention sites, also to try to interest retirees in the conventions. Norfolk for 2011 and Seattle for 2012 Conventions will be on the topic for March meeting.

     10. Committee reports on agenda for March meeting and will try to close at 10:00pm. 

Meeting adjourned at 10:53 pm. 

NEX MEETING MARCH 16, 2010

Barbara J. Rath

Secretary

December 2009 Investment Returns

The pension plan investments achieved a total return of 1.72% in December 2009.  This return was slightly better than the Policy Index objective of 1.42%.

Real Estate returned 6.57% followed by Domestic Equities, 3.06%, International Equities, 2.39%, and lastly Domestic Fixed Income, -.92%.  Comparable Index returns were 6.93%, 2.70%, 2.13% and -1.56%, respectively.  As can be seen from the foregoing, all of the asset classes, with the exception of Real Estate, outperformed its' respective Index.

Despite the total fund having negative returns in 3 months of calendar year 2009, overall the total return for the year was excellent, being 27.04%, exceeding the Policy Index objective of 25.80%.  International Equities returned 40.89% followed by Real Estate 30.54%, Domestic Equities 27.09% and Domestic Fixed Income 13.34%.  Domestic and International Equities trailed their respective Indices returns of 28.30% and 42.14%.  Real Estate and Domestic Fixed Income exceeded their respective Indices returns of 29.20% and 5.93%. 

Unfortunately, it appears that the total fund return for January 2010 will be in negative territory.  As of the close of the 26th of the month, the major international and domestic indices are negative.  Hopefully things will be different in February.

 Art LaValle,

Chairman Pension Trust Fund

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NOTE: IMPORTANT DUES INFORMATION

Every year NEREA receives letters from many NEX retirees asking basically two questions. (1) Do I owe dues and if so how much, and (2) Why doesn’t NEREA send out notices when dues are owed!  Let’s take #2 first.  To send out dues notices to all NEREA members, postage alone would be approximately $1,000, plus the printing and labor involved. Now for #1:  As for dues owed information, you receive that information four times a year when you receive the quarterly NEREA NEWS newsletter.  On the back page in your mailing address there will be a figure after your name and it will look like this; Mary M. Retiree-09.   The 09 indicates your dues are paid through the year 2009.  If it was -07 or -08, it would be years 2007 and 2008, respectively, and also would mean you are in arrears in your dues. Dues are $10.00 annually, and are due in January each year.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT    Every year NEREA reviews all member’s dues status.  Your dues are very important to the Association.  Without your dues there would be no quarterly NEREA NEWS, and, in addition, 25% of your dues goes to the NEREA Scholarship Fund and is used to financially assist a youngster of a retiree on his or her way to their first year of college.  When a member’s dues are in arrears, (remember your mailing label will reflect your current dues status) the member is subject to being dropped from the NEREA Association as well as the mailing list.   The question becomes “How can NEREA continue its Newsletter mailings to those members that are no longer paying dues?” Please don’t let that happen to you.  If you are behind on your dues please make an effort to get them current by 1 October before the annual dues survey is conducted.  NEREA needs you and you need NEREA as it is the only association that watches out for the Navy Exchange retiree.

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DID YOU KNOW?

SURVIVOR BENEFIT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

QUESTION 1:
Is the retiree required at date of retirement to elect his/her spouse for Survivor Benefits or is there a grace period after retirement that the decision can be made, and if so, how long?

ANSWER:
A married retiree is not required to elect a survivor benefit. However, the decision to elect or waive the spouse survivor benefit must be made before the retirement benefit becomes payable.

QUESTION 2:
If a retiree had elected a 10% reduction in his/her annuity to provide a Survivor Benefit to their spouse, and they are subsequently divorced and the retiree remarries, can the new spouse be eligible for Survivor Benefit?

ANSWER:
Yes. If a retiree divorces and remarries, he/she may elect a survivor benefit to the new spouse providing he/she notifies NEXCOM within one year of the remarriage.

QUESTION 3:
To the above question, what happens to the 10% monies deducted prior to divorce?

ANSWER:
The retiree's annuity is restored to its full amount including accumulated cost of living adjustments. There is no refund for the 10% reduction withheld prior to the divorce.

QUESTION 4:
If a retiree has named his spouse the beneficiary for Survivor Benefits  and the 10% reduction has been taken from his annuity for several years and spouse dies before the retiree what happens to the 10% that has been deducted over the years.

ANSWER:
See Answer to Question 3 above.

QUESTION 5:
If a retiree was not married at the time of official retirement date and had never named a Survivor Benefit and subsequently married years later will the spouse  be eligible for Survivor Benefit?

ANSWER:
Yes. A retiree who marries after the retirement has one year from the date of his/her marriage to elect the survivor benefit.

QUESTION 6:
Does the Survivor Benefit beneficiary have to be the retirees' spouse, or can another person be named?

ANSWER:
A single retiree may elect a survivor benefit to a named person with an insurable interest.  The retirement benefit is reduced by 10% with an additional 5% reduction for each full five years by which the named person is younger that the retiree.
A married retiree can only elect a survivor benefit to his/her spouse.