The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio is sending out checks to retirees this month that gives them a bonus payment, based on their years of service and how long they’ve been retired.
The pension fund board decided to use about $300 million money generated from investment returns to give out the bonus checks . It’s a one-time bonus that isn’t guaranteed in future years.
The check is calculated by adding years of service to the number of years retired and multiplying by $40. Someone who retired 10 years ago after 35 years of teaching would receive about $1,800.
Roughly 20 years ago, STRS was so flush that it issued a “13th” monthly pension check to all retirees.
Ohio teachers can retire a year earlier for a limited time
In addition to the bonus payments, STRS lowered the retirement service requirement from 34 years to 33 years for full retirement and from 29 years to 28 years for reduced early retirement.
About 13% of the 175,000 active teachers in the system are eligible. The lower retirement requirements are only in place from June 2025 to July 2027.