Supplemental Retirement Accounts

General Information

All salaried faculty and staff are eligible to contribute to SRA’s, including part-time employees, Contingent II employees, and Graduate Assistants.  Hourly employees, including Contingent I employees and students, are not eligible to participate.

Three companies offer Supplemental Retirement Accounts (SRA’s) on the UMBC campus:  PEBSCO (associated with Nationwide Retirement Solutions); TIAA-CREF; and Fidelity. 

PEBSCO offers three types of SRA’s:  40l(k), 403(b), and 457(b).  Each has its own provisions regarding withdrawals with or without penalty.  Please see the attached chart for a comparison of the three plans.

TIAA-CREF and Fidelity offer only the 403(b) and 457(b) SRA’s.

In all of the plans, employee deferrals are taken from salary before income taxes, therefore the employee’s taxes are reduced. 

Supplemental Retirement limits for Calendar Year 2008

The base maximum deferral amount is $15,500 for calendar year 2008 in either a 401k, 457b, or 403b account.   

General “50 years old” catchup for any account:  any employee attaining age 50 in 2008, or already 50 or older, can contribute an additional $5,000 to a 403b, 457b, or 401k account for a total of $20,500 in any individual plan in calendar year 2008. 

403b catchup:  an employee with a 403b account who has been in the UM System for 15 or more years and whose average 403b contributions have been under $5,000 per year of employment can catch up to the point where the average does equal $5,000.  This 403b catchup has a $3,000 per year maximum and a total lifetime maximum of $15,000.  This catchup can be applied to a 403b account in addition to the “over 50 year old” catchup noted above.

457b catchup:  an employee with a 457b account who hasn’t contributed the maximums during his/her career can double the normally allowed contributions to the 457b account during the final three years of employment (up to the amount under-contributed in previous years).  The “final three years” is defined as the last three years before the employee is eligible for normal full retirement benefits under the State Retirement and Pension System (even if the employee doesn’t plan to retire on the eligibility date).  An employee who is applying the 457b catchup may not also apply the “50 years old” catchup at the same time.  Also, previous contributions made to a 401k or 403b account in lieu of a 457b account are factored in when calculating underutilized contributions for the purposes of this catchup.

Deferrals to 403b and 401k accounts are combined when analyzing contributions against the maximum amounts.  Therefore, an employee with a 403b and 401k account may only contribute $15,500 base to the two accounts combined in 2008 (plus catchups if applicable).

Deferrals to 457b accounts are counted separately from 403b and 401k contributions.  Therefore someone with a 403b and 457b account (or 401k and 457b) could contribute the base maximum of $15,500 to each for a total of $31,000 in 2008.  The age 50 catchup can also be added, if applicable, to both accounts for a total contribution of $41,000.

If an employee has all three types of accounts, his/her total maximum would still be $31,000:  $15,500 in the 401k/403b combined, plus $15,500 in the 457b.  An employee 50 years old or above can add on the $5,000 catchup to the 457b and 403b/401k accounts for a maximum of $41,000 total in 2008; $20,500 in the 457b and $20,500 in the 403b and 401k combined.

Signup/Change Procedures

An employee initially signing up for an SRA with any of the companies must pick up an enrollment packet at the HR Department.  The initial signup packets are not available in electronic format at this time and must be obtained in hard copy.
 
An employee initially enrolling in a PEBSCO SRA fills out the necessary forms and submits them directly to the PEBSCO office.  PEBSCO then notifies the Central Payroll Bureau to initiate the pre-tax deductions from the employee’s paycheck.   

An employee initially enrolling in an SRA with TIAA-CREF or Fidelity must fill out the necessary forms and return them directly to our Human Resources Department.  The HR Department then notifies the Central Payroll Bureau to initiate the pre-tax deductions from the employee’s paycheck.

Once the salary deferrals are initiated, an employee who wants to change the amount of bi-weekly deferrals must fill out forms.  Again, the PEBSCO forms are available in the HR Department and should be sent by the employee directly to PEBSCO.  The PEBSCO forms are not available in electronic format. 

An employee who wants to change the deferral amount in their TIAA-CREF or Fidelity account must fill out two payroll forms and submit them to the HR Department.  The forms are different for each company and can be downloaded below.  Each link contains the two necessary forms.

TIAA-CREF 403(b) FIDELITY 403(b)
TIAA-CREF 457(b) FIDELITY 457(b)

Supplemental Retirement Account
Change Forms