403(b) Plan Information

The University of Richmond Retirement Plan is a defined contribution program governed by Sections 403(b) and 403(b)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Coverage

The Plan is a tax-favored retirement plan that the University of Richmond (the "University") has established for the benefit of its employees. The Plan allows all employees to make pre- and/or post-tax contributions out of their pay. In addition, the University makes certain types of employer contributions under the Plan for employees who meet specified eligibility requirements. Employees who participate in the Plan are permitted to elect how these contributions will be invested. The Plan allows employees to invest these contributions in one or more funds provided by the fund sponsors available under the Plan.

Employee Contributions

All employees, except for student employees, may make pre-and/or post-tax contributions to the retirement plan as soon as they become an employee and complete a salary reduction agreement. This includes contributing to a Roth option.

How Roth post-tax contributions works:

• With the Roth option, employees can contribute after-tax dollars. The savings with the Roth option and any attributed earnings will be tax-free at withdrawal when they reach age 59½ provided the contributions have been in the plan for five consecutive years.
• The combination of any pre-tax contributions and Roth contributions are together subject to the annual deferral limitations set by the IRS. For 2022, the limits are $20,500 for most and $27,000 if employees are over the age of 50.
• For more information on the Roth option, see the TIAA Roth Flyer.

Making contributions:

• Employees paid on a monthly basis: Human Resources must receive employees' signed salary reduction agreement by the 15th of the month in order for their deferral contributions to be effective for the next payday. If their salary reduction agreement is received after the 15th of the month, the salary reduction agreement will be effective for the payday following the next payday.
  
  
• Employees paid on a bi-weekly basis: Human Resources must receive employees' signed salary reduction agreement by the Friday following their payday in order for their deferral contributions to be effective for the next payday. If their salary reduction agreement is received after that Friday, the salary reduction agreement will be effective for the payday following the next payday.

Fund Choice

Employees may change their fund choices at any time. To enroll online or make fund changes, visit tiaa.org/richmond. 

Eligibility for Employer Contributions

All employees who have completed one year of service (worked 1,000 hours during a 12-month period) and have reached age 18 are eligible to participate in the employer contribution portion of the Plan. Once employees have satisfied these eligibility requirements, they must complete the online enrollment process to participate in this portion of the Plan. If employees do not enroll, an account will be established for them and the University will make the 5% contribution into the Target Date Funds closest to the date of their retirement.

The year of service requirement will be waived if a new employee has been employed at an institution of higher education for the full 12 months immediately preceding their date of hire. In the case of a faculty member, the year of service requirement will be waived if they were employed at an institution of higher education for the full academic year immediately preceding their employment with the University.

All determinations about employees' eligibility and participation in the Plan will be made by the University. The University will base its determinations on its records and the official plan document on file with the Plan Administrator.

Employer Contributions

If an employee is eligible to participate in the employer contribution portion of the plan, the University may make "basic contributions" and "matching contributions" on their behalf. All employer contributions are pre-tax.

Basic contributions are contributions made by the University on behalf of each eligible employee. The basic contribution is 5 percent of the employee's base salary paid during each pay period in which they make a salary reduction contribution. No contribution is required by the employee to receive this contribution on their behalf.

Matching contributions are contributions made by the University on behalf of each eligible employee who has made a salary reduction contribution during the plan year. If the employee satisfies these criteria, the University will match 100 percent of their salary reduction contributions made in whole percentages up to 5 percent of their base salary paid during the plan year. Therefore, the total maximum contribution that will be made by the University on the employee's behalf is 10 percent of the participant's base salary paid during the plan year.

Vesting

All employee and employer contributions are vested immediately.

Distributions

The retirement plan has been established to assist with income security during retirement. Upon retirement, employees may access their retirement accumulations by establishing an annuity (monthly or periodic payments), partial lump sum distributions, or a total lump sum distribution. Additional questions on annuity options or lump sum distributions may be directed to TIAA at 1-800-732-8353 or go to tiaa.org/richmond. Should an employee leave University employment, their retirement accumulations may be left with TIAA. The employee may rollover their retirement accumulations to another vendor or withdraw the retirement accumulations. If the employee is under age 59 1/2 and elects a cash distribution of their retirement account, then they will be penalized for an early retirement withdrawal as dictated by federal laws.

There may be restrictions on withdrawals from the TIAA Guaranteed Fund. Please contact TIAA at 1-800-732-8353 or go to tiaa.org/richmondor additional information.

Please see the Summary Plan Description for complete details.