CalPERS Power of Attorney
Class Length: 90 minutes
A major benefit of being a classified employee is earning a secure pension that pays every month after retirement, but you can lose everything you have worked so hard for by failing to submit a CalPERS Special Power of Attorney (POA) form. Having a POA on file allows your agent/attorney-in-fact to initiate your retirement for you if you become ill and cannot act on your own behalf. Doing so sets up your beneficiary or beneficiaries to receive a benefit paid every month of their life after your death. If you do not have a POA on file and pass unexpectedly, your beneficiary receives the return of your contributions plus the interest paid in one lump sum. Learn about how every CSEA member who is also a CalPERS member needs to have the POA form on file with CalPERS to protect their pension benefits. Learn how to complete the form page by page and send it in to CalPERS.
Presenters
Member Benefits Coordinator, CSEA
Debb Jachens is a Member Benefits Coordinator for the California School Employees Association. Debb’s areas of expertise are with CalPERS issues for union members as well as CSEA voluntary insurances. Debb is a former classified school employee and member of Napa Valley #184, former Regional Representative of Region #68 and a member of the very first group of the CSEA Member Trainers Bureau where she did countless trainings for CSEA members and staff.
In 2009, she joined the CSEA Member Benefits Department, specializing in insurance. Debb’scurrent assignment includes working with the CSEA Pre-Retirement Resource Committee providing members with workshops on retirement and the CSEA Retiree Unit as staff coordinator. Debb specializes in helping CSEA members with CalPERS questions or concerns and is often able to help members correct employer enrollment issues resulting in a lifetime pension.
Kevin Palkki serves on the CalPERS Board of Administration as the School Member Representative. Kevin is a member of San Bernardino CCD Chapter 291, serves as Regional Representative for Region 91 and on CSEA’s Investment Committee. He holds a master’s degree in business administration and multiple financial management certificates, including one from the Harvard School of Business. As a classified employee on the CalPERS Board, Kevin works hard to safeguard the pensions of all public employees and fiercely defend the defined benefit program that allows us to retire with security and dignity
Rob Feckner holds the title as the longest serving representative on the CalPERS Board of Administration, completing 24 years before his retirement in 2023. He served as president of the board from 2005 through 2017 and chaired the Pension & Health Benefits and the Performance, Compensation & Talent Management committees. As a 19-year-old living in Napa County, Feckner drove a school bus between attending classes at the local community college so he could free up his evenings to help raise his younger brother. He later became an instructional assistant for children with special needs before landing a full-time job in the maintenance department of the Napa Valley Unified School District where he worked for more than 43 years as a glazing specialist.
As a CSEA member, Rob was elected Association President for two terms (2005-2009), where he championed healthcare reform and oversaw the establishment of CSEA's Humanitarian Fund. He regularly encouraged members to volunteer their time and get involved in their local communities. In 2009, he was awarded CSEA Life Membership.