CONVERSION TO GMAIL IS A GO!
We converted our email and mailbox to Google’s  gmail  for more efficient management of the mailbox and are in the process of shutting down our old Yahoo mailbox. If you have questions or feedback for us, please send to our new address at intelretiree@gmail.com.

RETIREE NUMBERS GROW TO OVER 5000
Retirees are more than 5100 worldwide, with over 3800 in the US, and 45 percent US membership in the retiree organization.  Retirees have asked where to go for more Intel news. Our website has all the latest news.

EXCITING JOB OPPORTUNITIES
We are announcing exciting job opportunities with Intel and Encore, along with some Intel volunteer mentoring and training positions. With this new demand for both paid and volunteer retirees’ time, we have added a Jobs section to our website.

HEALTH/BENEFITS COMMITTEE – Cheryl Pruss, Chairperson

COBRA COVERAGE COMING TO AN END? WHAT RETIREES SHOULD CONSIDER
Recently the Intel Retiree Organization received requests from US retirees approaching the period when COBRA runs out. We have numerous key learnings from retirees who have gone through the process of getting healthcare insurance after COBRA, links to the Intel websites where you can find important plan information, links to specific state insurance commissions, links to Medicare and more in this newly written article.

VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE – Ben Manny, Chairperson

LOOK FOR INTEL INVOLVED CHECKS ARRIVING IN MAY
For those 118 retirees who turned in 2011 volunteer hours, your non-profits will be receiving their Intel Involved checks this month. Almost $38,000 will be donated by the Intel Foundation for these reported hours. In the past, checks were sent with no explanation of why the organization was getting this money from Intel. We recommend that you ensure your organizations are familiar with the program and recognize this added bonus for your volunteer efforts. The Intel foundation has continued the Intel Involved program in 2012. For details on how you can participate visit our website.

FILM FESTIVAL NEEDS YOU!
Check out this Bay Area opportunity to help produce a local Film Festival that explores the rich and complex fabric of the lives of older adults who have adapted with creativity, courage, and growth.

COMMUNICATION COMMITTEE – Debbie Watson and Randy Williams, Co-Chairpersons

MEET MARIE VALLEJO – AN INTERVIEW NOT TO BE MISSED
Marie lives in the Philippines and has written her exciting story about life after Intel including finding her half-siblings and authoring a book of historical significance. Enjoy her life and philosophy through her article.

NPR BRINGS BACK INTEL MEMORIES-LISTEN TO ANDY AND GORDON
Listen to a rare interview of Intel pioneers Gordon Moore and Andy Grove who talk about how Intel survived. There are three parts to the series with parts one and three telling Intel’s story. Don’t miss this trip back in time!

ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING SCHEDULED FOR MAY
The annual stockholders’ meeting will be held on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. PST. As an alternative to the traditional, in-person meeting, shareholders can join the live virtual meeting.

YOUR BIG CHANCE TO BECOME A WRITER
Have you ever dreamt of becoming a writer? Does the idea of being a reporter sound intriguing? Here’s your chance! The Communications Committee is looking for volunteers to write articles on topics relevant to our retirees. Ideally, we would have at least one writer/reporter located at each site to cover events and report back to the rest of us! Writers would attend a monthly meeting of the Communications Committee led by Debbie Watson. Don’t worry! We are all retired, so the time commitment is minimal!

SITE UPDATES

BAY AREA - Join us for lunch on June 6th at Dishdash in Sunnyvale. See our calendar for details.
ARIZONA – A stipend award is available for retirees who have an interest in teaching and is offered by the National Science Foundation Noyce Scholar Program. Check our website or contact Cathleen Barton for details on this excellent partnership opportunity with Rio Solado College.

Temporary assignment for Site Program Manager(s) in Folsom, Santa Clara and Chandler. These are a minimum of 6 weeks assignments; however, we could expand the role to pick up some of the design and planning responsibilities for the program that are not fully resourced.  For more details view this.

PRIORITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In case you missed our March News Flash, 2011 accomplishments and our 2012 priorities can be found here. Thanks to the many volunteers and those who have sent us numerous accolades!

ONE-STOP SHOPPING THROUGH OUR MAILBOX
During the month of March we responded to many retiree benefit inquiries, including the following question, “I am currently on Medicare and the Intel Retiree Medical supplemental plan because I need to stay enrolled so my wife gets the same plan. She is younger, and is a ways from Medicare eligibility. Can I switch to other insurance and keep my wife on IRMP?” This is question 14 (with the answer) on our webpage. If you have other questions you cannot get answers to from the Intel 1-800 support line, use our mailbox and we will use our contacts within Intel to get answers for you.

HEALTH AND BENEFITS COMMITTEE – Cheryl Pruss, Chairperson

UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT BEGINS HEARING HEALTH CARE REFORM CASE
The New England Journal of Medicine published an article about the April Supreme Court review of the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. It is a very informative overview of the issues, possible decisions and possible ramifications of those decisions.

SEARCH THE RETIREE WEBSITE TO FIND ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS
There is a lot of information on the Intel Retiree Organization website. How can you find what you are looking for? Use the search box, top right corner of every webpage. For example, click here to search and find the cost and details of the Intel Retiree Medical Plan.

 VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE – Ben Manny, Chairperson

SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER AT AN INTEL CAMPUS
Intel is piloting a new employee greeting program, Onboarding, which involves Intel retirees. Retirees will help welcome new employees on their first day by meeting them upon arrival, escorting them and joining them for lunch. Click here for details on what will be currently expected. The initial pilot program will be held in Oregon, but Onboarding is expected to expand to other sites if successful and if there is sufficient interest from retirees. If you are interested in volunteering, please reply to Ben Manny. 

COMMUNICATION COMMITTEE –Randy Williams and Debbie Watson, Co-Chairpersons

REORGANIZATION CHANGES
Thanks to Howard High for chairing our Communication Committee over the last 10 months.  Debbie Watson, a 2007 retiree, has volunteered to be 2-in-a-box with Randy. In her new role, Debbie will be soliciting input for One-of-Our-Own articles.  Read about Debbie’s interesting retirement life here and learn how you can contribute an article.

SITE UPDATES

BAY AREA – On April 28^th we are going to the races at Golden Gate Fields. We have a limited number of discount tickets. See our calendar for some details. Complete details have been mailed to our retirees via Evite. So if we don’t have your email address, you will not have the final details on how to get to the races. You can send your email address to our mailbox.

NEW MEXICO – Abigail Scott, our new site representative, will be emailing a survey this week to learn what your interests are, how involved you would like to be and how you would like your retiree organization to work for you. We need your input to be effective for you. Thank you in advance for participating. If you receive an email address from animal.red@gmail.com or abigail.red@gmail.com, it is from your New Mexico site representative.

• MarketPlace - quick and easy way to promote your business, find trusted service providers
• Careers Center – whole section devoted to helping you find a position or post a jobs
• Local Chapter Groups - easier ability to connect with alumni in your area and get updates about programs near you
• Forums – devoted to special interests and compelling topics –you have greater control of how and when you receive notifications
• Member Profiles & Directory - it’s now easy to find and keep in touch with other members.

IAN was previously located at BigTent.com but moved over to the new custom platform late last year to offer members exciting new features. Members on the BigTent site are encouraged to move over now – the old site in inactive and will soon be closed entirely. Visit http://www.intelalumni.org/ and click on “Haven’t Registered Yet?” to complete your profile.

2011 ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Thanks to your Intel Retiree Organization volunteers, we are proud of our 2011 accomplishments.

1) Redesigned and expanded your retiree website. Kudos to Judy Goodman and our website team of John Coutu, Dorothy Erpelding, Kea Grilley, Mark Healy, Polly Jennings, Sam Louke and Elyce Wair. Thanks to Intel for funding it.

2) Quarterly paper newsletter moved to new electronic monthly News Flash saving hours of volunteer labor and Intel dollars. Thanks again to Judy Goodman who made sure we got this capability with our new website, and also Sharon Bernier as our chief editor.

3) Our volunteers answered retiree questions daily on multiple topics (discount programs, events, email address updates, volunteer programs, international impacts, SERMA) that are sent to our mailbox.  An example is that we solved at least 49 health benefit issues for retirees in 2011. Thanks to all our 2011 volunteers who monitor the mailbox: Dorothy Erpelding, Elyce Wair, Sharon Bernier, Cheryl Pruss, Ben Manny, Caspar Helmer, Debbie Watson, Toni Hallenbeck, Duc Ngo, Sam Louke and Barb Frank.

4) Reached more retirees as our membership grew 14% from 1515 to 1721. Thanks to our Communications team:  Howard High, Randy Williams, Judy Goodman, Barb Frank, Cheryl Pruss, Ben Manny and Sharon Bernier.

5) Annual dinners, partially funded by Intel, held in Oregon, the Bay Area and this year included Arizona and Folsom.

2012 PRIORITIES
Our top priorities for 2012 are working with Intel to expand employee discounts and Great Place To Work benefits to retirees. In addition, we will continue to provide retirees with a single venue for fast, efficient and accurate answers from Intel via our mailbox.

You can use our mailbox to help you solve issues you are having with any of Intel’s retiree programs. You simply go to our website, click on our Contact Us, and describe the issue you are having. We have a solid process in place with Intel to get issues resolved quickly, and your questions answered promptly. In 2012 we have already responded 51 retiree issues. Here are a few examples.

HEALTH AND BENEFITS COMMITTEE, Cheryl Pruss, Chairperson

COMMON VACCINE BENEFITS
For retirees using IRMP with prescription benefits (Cigna and Anthem Blue Cross Plans), you can receive vaccines at a $0 copayment or coinsurance even if you haven’t met the plan deductible, when administered at a participating retail pharmacy. Click here for the list of vaccines that are available and for a number to call to verify that your retail pharmacy participates in the Medco network. Some common vaccines on the list include shingles, influenza type A & B, yellow fever vaccine, and typhoid vaccine.

TAX IMPACT OF SERMA
For information on the tax impact of SERMA reimbursements click here. You are allowed to submit SERMA claims for reimbursement for payment of health insurance plans other than IRMP, for the prior year (2011) during the run-out period (January 1st to March 31st), as long as the premiums occurred while you were eligible under the plan. The run-out period provides you extra time to submit your claims. You must submit your claims with complete supporting documentation by March 31st, 2012 for the year 2011.

VOLUNTEER COMMITTEE, Ben Manny, Chairperson

2011 REPORTED VOLUNTEER HOURS DOWN 30 Percent  
Intel retirees contributed $724,361 to the Fall Community Giving campaign and reported 37,495 volunteer hours for 2011. Donations to the campaign were UP about 2 percent from last year but reported volunteer hours were DOWN almost 30 percent from 2010.   All major sites were down about the same percentage while current Intel employee hours were actually higher. Click here to see the full report and historical record.

Based on the higher number of questions about reporting hours, our numbers were expected to continue trending upward. Please pass along any insights to Ben Manny that might help explain this significant decrease. The Intel Involved program is a direct way every retiree can make a meaningful and positive impact to their communities.

COMMUNICATION TEAM, Randy Williams and Howard High, Co-chairpersons

RETIREES NEEDED FOR INTEL INTERVIEWS ON LONG-TERM RETIREMENT STRATEGIES
Intel is looking for non-HR folks who retired within the last five years to obtain input on future retirement strategies. Interviews will be done in a 30 minute phone call March 15 and 16. Check the announcement on our website for more details on the different profiles Intel is looking for as well as contact information for this excellent opportunity.

SITE UPDATES

BAY AREA – Join us for lunch on March 27th, at Cascal Restaurant, and bring your Vault card for a discount on your meal. On April 28th, we’re going to the Races at Golden Gate Fields. We have a limited number of discount tickets for this event. See our calendar for details.

FOLSOM – Pictures and details of the successful annual dinner have been posted on our calendar. See how many people you recognize.

Intel is looking for 20 non-HR folks who retired within the last five years to obtain input on future retirement strategies.  Interviews will be done in a 30 minute phone call March 15 and 16. The different profiles are listed below.  The phone interview should last 30 minutes on March 15-March 16, with slots open 8AM-2PM on March 15 and 8-noon on March 16.  Contact Amber at amber.r.wiseley@intel.com to set up an appointment.

• 5 people who have made a successful, immediate move to an encore career (i.e. something different than what they did at Intel).
• 5 people who were unsuccessful at moving to their first try of an encore career, but ended up with the right one
• 5 people who moved into a combination of retirement mode with volunteering and/or part-time work
• 5 people who moved into pure retirement with no meaningful commitment to volunteering or an initiative and spend most of their time at leisure

The SERMA reimbursements are not taxable. If you are able to deduct medical expenses (consult your tax advisor) and if you are utilizing less than 100% SERMA reimbursement you can deduct the amount you received from SERMA to calculate your tax deduction amount, for example: 

SERMA 2011 Total Reimbursement Received:  $ 4,500

2011 Total Medical premium paid:                     $ 7,500

Total allowed medical premium tax deduction: $ 3,000