Alabama’s teachers are getting some good news about their retirement savings.
Al.com reports investments by the Alabama Teachers’ Retirement System, managed by the Retirement Systems of Alabama earned 10.4% during the most recent fiscal year ending September 30. That’s up from just 1.04% the year before. As Alabama state treasurer Young Boozer puts it, “What happened was we moved the decimal point one place to the right.”
Officials say the main reason for the jump in earnings was domestic stocks. About half of the nearly $23 billion dollar fund is invested in domestic equities, which earned 15 percent this year. The other half is in international equities, which earned 9 percent.
The earnings are important as the fund is one of the main sources of income for the pension plan serving about 90,000 retired Alabama teachers and education professionals.
The RSA operates a separate pension fund for state employees. That board is scheduled to meet on Monday.