Teachers and nurses
near retirement
Most of our clients work for an NC public school or a Charlotte hospital. Their plans start from two papers we know well: the TSERS benefit statement and the 403(b) summary.
Your pension in one line
TSERS pays 1.82% of your average pay in your four highest consecutive years, times your years of service. It's unreduced at 30 years of service at any age, at 60 with 25 years, or at 65 with 5. Try your own numbers.
What a plan adds: the payout option, the sick leave conversion, any service you can buy, and how the pension stacks with Social Security.
TSERS pension, before any payout option
$2,703 a month
$32,432 a year: 1.82% × $66,000 × 27 years
Reduced benefit: you meet age 50 with 20 years.
The TSERS formula as published by the NC Retirement Systems. The exact figure, with any reduction and your payout option, is on your ORBIT benefit estimate.
The 403(b) and the gap to 65
Nurses tend to have three or four plans by their fifties, a vesting schedule nobody explained, and a body that wants to stop before Medicare starts. We start with one list of every account, then plan the years between your last shift and 65.
| Limit | 403(b) or 401(k) | 457(b) |
|---|---|---|
| Elective deferral limit | $24,500 | $24,500 |
| Catch-up, age 50 and over | $8,000 | $8,000 |
| Larger catch-up, ages 60 to 63 | $11,250 | $11,250 (457(b) too) |
| Most you can put in at 61 | $35,750 | $35,750 |
IRS limits for 2026. If you earned more than $150,000 last year, catch-ups must go in as Roth.
Meetings around your day
Every meeting is by video or phone unless you'd rather come to the office in Dilworth. Building the plan takes about three hours of your time across a month, and school-year clients often do it in June.
- 7:00 AMBefore a day shiftHannah Liu
- 7:30 AMBefore first bellRenee Okafor
- 10:00 AMRetired, or on a day offMarcus Bell
- 4:15 PMAfter dismissalRenee Okafor
- 7:00 PMAfter a day shift, or before nightsHannah Liu
What we will never sell you
- Annuities or insurance. If you need life or long-term care cover, we tell you what kind and how much, and you buy it elsewhere.
- Our own funds. We have none. Your accounts stay in your name at an independent custodian.
- A rollover you don't need. The NC 401(k) and 457 have low costs. Leaving money there is often the right answer.
- A bigger fee for a bigger balance. The fee is set by the work, and it's published.