retirement
10 reasons to review your 403(b)
Highlights
- Under the new rules, more 403(b) plans are gaining ERISA protection.
- By law, you are always 100 percent vested in your own salary deferrals.
- Many 403(b) plans allow you to take out a loan.
If you work for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or a public school, college, or university, you may have had a 403(b) plan for years (they've been around since 1958). If so, don't worry: The new regulations issued by the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service in July 2007 have had plan administrators scrambling to get all their paperwork in order, but there's a good chance that the important parts of your plan are continuing pretty much as before. Still, this is a good time to do a little checking and find out more about it. Why?
10 reasons to review your 403(b)
- Because you can
- To find out what legal protections apply
- To join the plan as soon as you're eligible
- To know your investment options
- To make sure you're maximizing your savings
- To be aware of your vesting schedule
- To decide to change your mind
- To be ready for an emergency
- So you'll know your options when you leave
- To be sure of when you can withdraw your money
1. Because you can
One of the most significant new requirements is that every employer with a 403(b) now must have written documents explaining the provisions of the plan. For the most part, employers were expected to have these documents finalized by Jan. 1, 2009.If you want to understand the basics, ask your plan administrator (most likely, that's someone in your human resources department) for a copy of the summary plan description. According to the Department of Labor, the summary plan description is a "document provided by the plan administrator that includes a plain language description of important features of the plan, e.g., when employees begin to participate in the plan, how service and benefits are calculated, when benefits become vested, when payment is received and in what form, and how to file a claim for benefits."
2. To find out what legal protections apply
In the past, one of the main differences between your plan and a plan with a for-profit company has been that 401(k) plans are nearly always subject to ERISA, or the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, while 403(b) plans usually were not. Under the new rules, more 403(b) plans are gaining ERISA protection. Although your plan may be doing fine without it, it's good to know whether ERISA applies to you.3. To join the plan as soon as you're eligible
Even in this economy, when it sometimes seems that retirement savings are shrinking faster than you can add to them, it still makes sense to start saving as much as you can as early as you can, especially when you're talking about tax-deferred savings.If your employer offers a 403(b) plan at all, the "universal availability" rule requires that most employees are eligible to participate, at least through their own salary deferrals. Still, the employer may, at its discretion, exclude you if:
- You are a nonresident alien.
- You want to contribute less than $200 a year.
- You participate in another employer-sponsored plan.
- You normally work fewer than 20 hours per week.
Employers have a little more control over who can participate in the matching funds they may provide, although they generally have to include at least everyone who:
- Is 21 years old or older.
- Works 1,000 hours or more per year.
4. To know your investment options
ERISA requires a fiduciary duty of plan administrators. According to the Department of Labor, that duty includes acting prudently and diversifying the plan's investments in order to minimize the risk of large losses. In practice, this means your plan must offer a variety of funds for you to choose from.If you're nervous about stock market volatility, you can choose a fund with a guaranteed rate of return. If you're young or you like risk, or if you're convinced we're at the bottom of the cycle, you can buy into stock funds. Note, however, that this does not necessarily mean you will be offered a variety of investment companies. Your firm may have all its retirement funds at Vanguard, or TIAA-CREF, for example, but each of those institutions will make a variety of investment options available.