December 1, 2017
Report from the Field:
Meet Debbie Bialka-Benedict
Debbie Bialka-Benedict, a Retirement Counselor based
out of our Anchorage office, has worked for the Division
of Retirement and Benefits for over 15 years. She was
born in Minnesota and moved with her family to
Fairbanks, Alaska when she was in first grade. After a
few years, job opportunities moved the family to
Anchorage and she has been a resident there ever since.
Her background in the field of counseling started early with
several customer service oriented jobs throughout high school
and college. She attended the University of Alaska in
Anchorage and after graduating started working for the State
of Alaska. From 1990 – 2001, Debbie worked for both the Department of Labor and the Department of Law before taking the position with Retirement and Benefits and we
have been benefiting ever since.
Being based in Anchorage, Debbie mostly assists Anchorage
employers and members with one-on-one meetings in the
Anchorage office, but at times she has also had the
opportunity to travel and counsel members based in
Fairbanks, Seward, Mat-Su, and the Kenai Peninsula.
“The thing I like most about my job is our members,” says
Debbie of her 15-year-plus career. “To me, being a retirement
counselor is very rewarding. At the end of the day, it’s nice
to know I was able to help someone with their retirement
planning. With everyone that I meet and counsel, I want
them leaving the office with an understanding of what their
future retirement will be. That includes their pension
benefit, possible survivor benefit, health care options, taxes,
etc. I don’t want anyone to be able to say, ‘I wish I would
have known about that,’ or ‘I wish someone would have
told me.’ I want our members to know the choices and
options available to them. I loved my job when I was hired
in 2001 and I still love it today!”
She finds communication to be a valuable skill as a counselor
and prides herself on her ability to read our members’
understanding of the subject matter.
When Debbie is not counseling members at work, she
takes time out to be with family and friends. “I enjoy
cooking, traveling, reading, being outdoors,” she says, “I
love getting out and walking our fourteen-year-old Golden
Retriever.”
From her 16 years on the job, Debbie has some advice for
members who are preparing for retirement, the key to
which she says is, “Finding a balance between living for
today and saving for tomorrow.”
Retirees in Touch:
Linda Layfield An Adventurer and Traveler at Heart
Linda Layfield first got hooked on Alaska in 1978 when she
took a vacation travelling on the Alaska Marine Highway. “At
that time a person could get on and off the ferry at any port,”
Linda said, “So, I got off at every port, snooped around, hiked,
and met some very interesting people.” With just one little
summer vacation, she was hooked on Alaska. Shortly after
returning home to Portland, Oregon, a position within the
State of Alaska opened in her field, and she jumped at the
chance to return. Over the next twenty years she built a life
in Juneau, working in various roles with students of all ages
and educators in the education community. She spent time
as Director of Community Schools and worked in various
programs with SERRC (Southeast Regional Resource Center)
in Adult Education, Alaska Close-Up, Improving America’s
Schools, and others.
In 2000, another opportunity prompted her to travel on with the
Peace Corps, and luckily retirement afforded her the
means. She said, “I left Alaska in January 2000 to serve in
Uzbekistan as Administrative Officer of Peace Corps there.
Shortly after 9/11 when the United States Government put
in a military camp on the Uzbek border with Afghanistan,
we had to evacuate all volunteers. After accomplishing that
task, I was sent to the Baltic States Peace Corps to close
down that post after a ten-year presence, since the breakup
of the Soviet Union.” The story doesn’t end there. In
her tenure with the Peace Corps, Linda also lived in Latvia
while working in Lithuania and Estonia. She also spent
time in Cote d’Ivoire during which civil war broke out and
all volunteers were evacuated, and she was sent on a
temporary duty post to the Kingdom of Lesotho in Southern
Africa. She finally settled for a few years in Antananarivo,
Madagascar, her self-proclaimed favorite. “I was fortunate
to serve for nearly five years,” she said, “Of the over twenty
countries in which I have lived and worked, Madagascar
is my favorite. The people are so lovely and the biodiversity
of flora and fauna is amazing!” Of the work she said, “I
never had only an eight-hour day. Most were more like ten
to twelve, and sixteen sometimes, but I enjoyed it immensely
and loved the folks with whom I worked in every country!”
With her time in the Peace Corps coming to an end, Linda
returned home to Douglas, Alaska and reconnected with
the landscape, working a part-time job as a hiking guide.
As it happens, the summer proved to be particularly wet,
so Linda was off again, moving with her husband down to
the drier clime of Eastern Washington. “My husband and
I loaded a U-Haul in November 2008, got on the ferry and
headed for Yakima, Washington,” she said. With that, her
adventures in Alaska came to a fitting end as her departure
mirrored her arrival, with a trip on the Alaska Marine
Highway.
During all her adventures and travels, Linda learned some
things about how to make ends meet. One trick she learned
and shared with us, “I stashed money away for retirement
in investments prior to retirement to add to what would
be my retirement income.” And she said of her State of
Alaska’s retirement, “It has given me GREAT health coverage
for which I am very grateful. It has provided me with one
of several sources of income to live comfortably in retirement
and to travel extensively.” Linda’s parting advice to others
interested in an active and adventure-filled retirement is
this, “Start saving beyond what you get at work to
supplement your retirement income.”
These days Linda has proclaimed she has “really retired.”
Not to be slowed down, she keeps busy volunteering at
the Mission to provide support for homeless, raising funds
for her church, and working out almost daily. “I ski in the
winter with the Desert Ski Club,” she said, “I hike all
summer with a bunch of retired teachers, and my sister
and I have loved hanging out with our 98-year-old Mom,
who almost made it to 99 when she passed away this
August! Life is GOOD!”
Read These Newsbreaks
These newsbreaks often contain time
sensitive notices that serve as the Division’s
initial notice to members of upcoming
projects, updates, or happenings.
Appointments with DRB Counselors
In-person counseling appointments are
available in both Juneau and Anchorage.
To better serve you we have the following
guidelines when making an appointment:
Walk-in appointments-Juneau & Anchorage
- Walk-in hours in Juneau are from
8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. only.
- Walk-in hours in Anchorage are from
12-1:30 p.m. only.
Walk-in appointments should be used to
submit or pickup forms, review
information, or to have general questions
answered. If you need a review of your
retirement, or have many questions that
will take more than ten minutes please
make an in-person or teleconference
appointment by utilizing the Online
Counselor Scheduler provided on the
DRB website here,
or call (907) 465-4460 in Juneau, or
(800) 821-2251 areawide.
For members outside of the Juneau and
Anchorage area, or for those who prefer,
teleconference appointments may be
scheduled here, or
by calling (907) 465-4460 in Juneau, or
(800) 821-2251 areawide.
FYI-Tax Information
- Check your stubs. Historically, the IRS puts out new tax tables which may impact a member’s net take home. Your first payment in 2018 will have the revised tax amount deducted. Retirees can access Direct Deposit stubs online at myrnb.alaska.gov.
- 1099-R’s are coming out! The Division will have the 1099-R’s mailed out by the IRS deadline of January 31. Be sure to check the Division’s website throughout the month of January for a verification of the official mail out date.
We Want to Share Your Retirement Story
We want to share your retirement story with your fellow members. Are you volunteering, traveling, involved in the community or just enjoying life? Let us know where you are living now, what you are involved in, where you were employed, and how your State of Alaska retirement has allowed you to enjoy new adventures in retirement.
You can also mail your stories and photos to:
Attention: Newsbreak Editor
State of Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits
333 Willoughby Avenue
6th Floor
P.O. Box 110203
Juneau, AK 99811-0203.
Please keep your stories to 500 words or less.
2018 Retiree Benefit Mailing Dates
Retiree benefits will be mailed on the following dates in 2018:
- January 25
- February 23
- March 22
- April 25
- May 24
- June 25
- July 25
- August 23
- September 25
- October 25
- November 23
- December 20
The mailing date is also the date that funds are available from your financial
institution. If you would like to have your benefit directly deposited,
complete the Electronic Direct Deposit Authorization for Retirees form
and return it to the Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits. You can find the form at here.
The information provided on this page may or may not be up-to-date. If you are unsure, please contact us.
