The Voice of ARC Retirees



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 Update on Recent Athene Annuity Purchase 

Update July 18, 2022 

Dear friends,

In my recent communication with you in June, I provided information about the purchase of a group annuity contract from Athene Annuity and Life Company to pay the pension benefit of 6,500 Red Cross retirees beginning June 30, 2022. The annuity contract will cover current Red Cross retirees whose gross monthly benefits from the Retirement System are $1,600 or less, and who have started receiving a pension benefit on or before January 1, 2022.

By now, those of you affected by this change have received a mailing from the American Red Cross and, also the Athene Welcome Package. Both packets include information about the change, any impact on your pension benefit, and phone numbers to contact for additional information. I encourage you to review those packets carefully with your financial advisor and family, and use the contact numbers to clarify any questions that you might have.

Also, if you know that your benefit amount is within the parameters noted above and have not receive communication from the Red Cross or from Athene, you may wish to contact the Red Cross Benefit Service Center at 877-860-7526 to confirm your status.

For the retirees affected by this change, the American Red Cross has stated that, “there will be no change to the gross amount or timing of your monthly pension benefit.” As we did following the last annuity purchase by the Red Cross in 2017, we are prepared to help retirees understand this action and its impact on their retirement benefits, if any.

We have prepared an FAQ that provides answers to many of the questions you might have about this annuity purchase. I encourage you review the FAQ. ARCRA will continue to provide information about this change in ARCRA  newsletters and on this website.

I encourage you to contact Athene and of the Red Cross Benefit Service Center directly if you have any questions. As you read through the documents, please do not hesitate to also contact the Retiree Connection volunteers for additional assistance at 202-303-8779 or ARCRA@redcross.org. We can help you navigate the basics of the changes and point you in the right direction to get help.

Best regards,

                                     ARCRA President Harold Brooks

 ARCRA Webinar:
Friday, May 20, 2022 12:30 PM EDT

Update on Red Cross Work in Ukraine with Koby
Langley, Senior Vice  President SAF and
International Services

 

Koby Langley, Senior Vice
President SAF and
International Services has
recently returned from Poland
where he visited Red Cross
refugee relief operations.

Koby's talk included updates on 

  • The work of the Red Cross movement in the current humanitarian crisis in Ukraine
  • The role of the Red Cross movement in armed conflict
  • How the American Red Cross is supporting  the Ukraine crisis relief effort
  • The work of SAF 

Click here to listen to the recorded audio from this webinar and to read summaries of and view recordings of past webinars.

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