The short answer is no. CalSTRS is not actually designed to replace 100% of your income in retirement, which is why it's generally a good idea to also have a Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, a Roth 457, Roth 403b, Traditional 457 or Traditional 403b.

Generally teachers pick a 457 over a 403b because 457s allow you to access the funds slightly earlier than 403bs do. To start using the money within a 403b, you must be age 55+ AND separate from service to withdraw the money without early withdrawal tax penalties or just over age 59 ½+ (you'll still pay ordinary income tax though). With a 457, you only have to separate from service to avoid the early withdrawal tax penalties !

I highly recommend that you ask an advisor if they have other clients in the same teacher pension system that you are in. If they don't, that's not necessarily a deal breaker, but follow up with other questions like "how did you gain expertise in the CalSTRS pension system?".

Getting out a bad 403(b) is a real pain and I'm sorry that you're dealing with that. It is important to be aware of the rules around the bad 403(b) plan that you're in. Often they have surrender periods where you can't get your money out without paying high-fees (one of the ways they make money off of teachers!). Once you're clear on the fees, reach out to a good 403b vendor (look up your school district at 403bwise.com to figure out which ones are good) and ask them for help moving your bad 403b into a good 403b. If in doubt, feel free to schedule a call with me and I'll try to help! Or you can checkout the 403bwise Facebook page for community help!

Transparently, I'm very financially blessed and can now give back my time and expertise to communities that I care about. I do a lot of work with teachers for free because teachers deserve it. Teachers deserve money! If someone does decide to sign up to work with me on a year-long basis, I make money directly from the client paying me, not from recommending any products or investments (no commissions).