Important Employee Notes!

New Savings Opportunity

METRO employees now have the option to make after-tax contributions to a Roth IRA. This means that you will not have to pay taxes on the money when you withdraw it. Other choices for employees are pre-tax contributions. You do have to pay taxes on those funds upon withdrawal.

This addition provides more ways than ever to help manage retirement planning.

How Pretax Contributions Work

On the plus side

• Your money can grow tax~deferred
  
• You may lower your tax-able income
  
• You may pay lower taxes later

How Roth contributions work

On the plus side

• Taxes on current income
  
• Tax-free earnings for qualified withdrawals
  
• The five-year and age 59 1/2 rule
  
• Option to defer required minimum distributions

A Side-by-side Comparison

 


Retirement plan services

empowermyretirement.com

• State-of-the-art website
  
• Online account management
  
• Planning calculators

1-800-701 -8255

• Retirement representatives
• 24-hour automated phone system

 

T.E.A.M. Scholarships Awarded

The Employee Association of METRO is proud to help staff offset the costs of higher education for themselves, and their children.

This year’s scholarships have been awarded to graduating high school seniors of METRO Employees. Congratulations to all the recipients!

If your child is graduating from high school in 2024, keep an eye out for the scholarship application process next spring. We will let you know when it opens in this newsletter, on the employee intranet, and on digital bulletin boards at facilities.

If you are an employee wishing to enroll in higher education, you can take advantage of METRO’s Tuition Reimbursement Program right now! The entire process can be done online. Get the link here.

 

The Reality of Artificial Intelligence

The Office of Innovation held a Lunch & Learn on the subject of Artificial Intelligence which has been making headlines across the country as advances in technology are revealed.

A presentation was given by Dr. Paul Anderson who is an assistant research engineer at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

Anderson described concepts and AI models, pros and cons of current AI methods and current and potential applications in public transit.

If you missed the event, you can see it here!

 

Lambert Legacy Honored at TranStar

Tom Lambert is METRO’s longest serving President & CEO and has been with the Authority for more than forty years. Now, as he approaches retirement at the end of the year, he has been honored with an executive conference room bearing his name at TranStar.

Mr. Lambert was extremely surprised at the unveiling in June. In announcing his retirement back in February, he said, “I have been blessed to have worked with talented staff, a dedicated Board and a wonderful community of partners to provide outstanding multimodal transit options to this region.”

Mr. Lambert is reflecting on retirement in a series of videos that are being posted monthly. You can watch them here.