For $120 a year, UFT retirees who are members of the Retired Teachers Chapter can obtain supplemental benefits that reimburse them for some out-of-pocket expenses, including ambulance rides, dental work, hearing aids and private-duty nursing.

Most UFT retirees elect TDA deferral status when they first retire. But when they reach age 73, retirees must withdraw a set percentage of their funds from their tax-deferred annuity – called the required minimum distribution (RMD) — each year.


In addition to having legal letters written or phone calls made on a UFT retiree’s behalf, the UFT Welfare Fund Retiree Legal Plan with Elder Plan Supplement provides access to attorneys who can give advice, answer questions, review documents, prepare a will and more. Telephone advice and consultations are unlimited.

Senior citizens need to be wary of emails, phone calls and text messages designed to get them to hand over money or share personal information, an elder fraud expert told UFT retirees at the Retired Teachers Chapter membership meeting in May. Fraud is a booming business, said Anna Diao, chief of the Elder Fraud Unit in the Queens District Attorney’s Office.

A wildlife refuge an outdoor sculpture garden, museums, a tea party and even a wastewater treatment plant are the destinations for in-person Si Beagle Learning Center outings this spring.