Message from ARCRA President    Jim Hamilton

I live in the Seattle area, and for me personally Covid-19 has been a wake-up call regarding my health and my preparedness for these types of events.  So, beyond staying safe during this viral event, I am committed to being better prepared in the future.  For those of you that were well-prepared, I salute you.  For those like me that maybe could improve on their preparedness a bit, I hope that once this Covid-19 event is over you will join me in becoming better prepared for potential events in the future.  ARCRA volunteers will continue to look for good content and share with members in future eNewsletters.  We hope you find the Covid-19 info on this website useful.

I also hope that you take the time to read through our report from our ARCRA’s recent meeting with Red Cross leadership.  There is good news.  Although the recent volatility in the stock market has created some nervousness about retirement systems, the Red Cross been taking actions that have proven helpful during the recent stock market volatility.  Overall, their actions are positive and have helped place the Red Cross pension system in an even more sound position.  While we do not have this kind of direct access to annuity providers, Athene recently sent a message to their Red Cross annuitants clarifying Athene’s financial security.  And per our earlier newsletters, pensions and annuities of this nature are backed up by federal and state guarantee corporations.

I wish you the very best in safety and health as we all work together to put an end to this Covid-19 event

-JIM