Retired school counselor helps Stanislaus colleagues cross that bridge

Retired Riverbank High counselor Tim Fast is still in the habit of helping folks.

After a 30-year career giving advice to kids, Fast spent 11 years guiding Stanislaus and Merced county teachers through retirement finances as a contract benefits counsel for the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, better known as CalSTRS.

Retirement is challenging for anyone, said retired teacher Jim Sterling.

“For teachers, winding down a career after perhaps 30 years can be a daunting chore,” Sterling said. “Most teachers are going full-tilt right up until their final day in the classroom, leaving them little time for the preparations, questions and paperwork they must wade through.”

After CalSTRS closed nearby outlets in 2014, Fast shifted to leading local Demystifying Retirement events for about 450 teachers weighing the big move, sponsored by CalRTA Stanislaus, the local chapter of the California Retired Teachers Association.

Finding forms, filling them out and figuring out where to get the information for them all keep volunteer demystifiers hopping. Bridging the insurance gap between retirement and their Medicare eligibility is another hot topic.

Fast and his fellow retired teacher volunteers tally up hours spent sharing their experience and expertise in communities, churches and schools across the state. This year the California total added up to an impressive 2 million hours, announced during California Retired Teachers Week in November.

In addition to their donated time, retired teachers are part of the swell of economic benefits California receives from public pensioners as they spend their benefit checks.

In Stanislaus County the figure was nearly 26,000 hours, or the equivalent of 21 teaching years, though Sterling noted only 11 percent of the group’s 925 members put down their hours.

This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Retired school counselor helps Stanislaus colleagues cross that bridge."