From incoming UPMA Retired President Rodney Boland            11/1/2019

Greetings to my friends of UPMA Retired! 
     As the old year comes to an end, a New Year begins.  The questions that we all wonder about are what does the New Year hold in store and where do we go from here?  I think that we are doing quite well to only be three years old.  However, we still have lots of room for improvement.
     My priorities are to always keep the membership informed, really push membership to a new level and always keep an eye open for issues that would adversely affect our organization and its members.  Communication is essential so that members will be informed, will feel like a valuable part of the organization and hopefully want to be involved.  Membership is the life blood of any organization.  The executive board, along with the membership committee, will always be implementing new ideas to increase the retention of retiring postmasters and managers.  And hopefully, through constant communication, members will be motivated to take an active part in the political process to protect the benefits that we often take for granted.  All of this you will hear more about as the New Year gets underway
       I have never been content to sit on the sidelines and watch so I guess it was only natural that I would get involved in the postmaster organizations.  I hope to be involved for a long time to come and that we can all work together so that UPMA Retired will grow and prosper.
   I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving and a very blessed Christmas.
Sincerely,
Rodney T. Boland

From Outgoing President Jack:
I sincerely appreciate all the Area Reps, Committee Chairs and Committee Members, and Appointees for specific positions that have served during my term of office as President.  Each of you accepted the positions with a willingness to serve and continually improve our great organization. We have had challenges and will continue to have, and that encourages new ideas and better ways of getting our business done.  Please continue to provide input.
          I have thoroughly enjoyed serving as your President.  I am very proud of our accomplishments and of the opportunity to make new friendships all over the country.  I am so very thankful that our organization has allowed us to make lasting memories in seeing places we may not have seen, to make friends we may not have known, to change things that may have needed changing and to improve those things that needed to be improved.  I will forever remember the Lap Blanket Project that was done to honor our Veterans and the bind that tied us all together in making an unbelievable 519 Blankets.  I am forever grateful.  
As I have previously stated "Bless His Heart, He Did His Best". Thank you to each and every one.
Jack D. Wilkins 
National President, UPMA Retired

We were honored to have Jack Wilkins,

UPMA National Retiree President,

in attendance at our 2019 Ohio Chapter Convention

and spoke on his concerns for the retiree 

organization.

2018 COLA ANNOUNCED FOR FEDERAL RETIREES

copied from UPMA GOLD

The 2018 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security recipients and annuitants in both the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) will increase 2.0 percent, the Social Security Administration announced today.  Because the COLA amount is not more than 2%, both CSRS and FERS retirees will receive the same percentage.  CSRS COLA and FERS COLA are awarded based on the following formula:  
•  If the CSRS COLA is more than 3%, the FERS COLA is 1% less 
•  If the CSRS COLA is more than 2% but less than 3%, then the FERS COLA is 2%. 
•  If the CSRS COLA is less than 2%, then the FERS COLA is the same. 

 
The 2018 federal retiree COLA is much larger than last year's 0.3 percent increase and the zero COLA in 2016.  It's also the first year the CSRS and FERS COLA has been 2.0 percent or more since 2012.