The State University of New York Voluntary Savings Plan
2014 UNIVERSAL AVAILABILITY NOTICE
The State University of New York (“SUNY”) provides employees with the opportunity to save for their retirement through the SUNY Voluntary Savings Plan (the “Plan”). Participation in the SUNY Voluntary Savings Plan is a great way to build your retirement savings and reduce current taxes.
Whether you want to enroll in the plan for the first time, or you are already enrolled but wish to change the amount of your deferral, you can accomplish your goal by filling out a “Salary Reduction Agreement”. You can obtain information on the plan from your SUNY campus Office of Human Resources, at 315-498-2517, or on the SUNY Benefits Web Site.
ELIGIBILITY
All employees of SUNY who receive compensation reportable on an IRS Form W-2 are eligible to participate in the plan.
Please take a moment to review the plan materials before enrolling. Once you are enrolled, you can review and change the amount of your contributions as often as once per pay period by submitting a new Salary Reduction Agreement. The exact date your investment allocations will take effect may vary depending upon the policies of the Investment Provider managing the investment options you chose for Plan contributions.
The Tax-Deferred Plans listed below provide a way for you to contribute to a retirement account on a pre-tax basis through payroll deduction. Your contributions, plus earnings are not taxed until you withdraw the funds. Usually this will be during your retirement, when your income may fall within a lower tax bracket.
WHAT ARE MY TAX DEFERRED SAVINGS OPTIONS?
There are several different Plan options and Investment Providers to choose from through the SUNY Voluntary Savings Plan. The Authorized Investment Providers offer a wide choice of investment options, including stock, bond and guaranteed funds. The following Plans and Investment Providers are available to you:
Teachers Insurance Annuity Associate-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF)
1-800-842-2252, www.tiaa-cref.org/suny
ING Life Insurance and Annuity Company
1-800-677-4636, www.ingretirementplans.com/custom/suny
MetLife
1-800-662-0916, www.metlife.com/suny
VALIC Retirement
1-888-569-7055, www.valic.com/suny
Fidelity Investments (403(b)(7) Mutual Funds)
1-800-343-0860, www.fidelity.com
NYS Deferred Compensation Plan (457)
1-800-422-8463, www.nysdcp.com
HOW MUCH CAN I CONTRIBUTE?
For 2014 you can contribute up to $17,500 per year.
If you are age 50 or older anytime in 2014, you can contribute an additional $5,500 to your tax-deferred account, for a maximum of $23,000.
If you have worked for SUNY for more than 15 years you may be eligible to contribute up to an additional $3,000. To do this you must obtain a calculation from your Investment Provider indicating that you are eligible to defer the additional amount.
Each participant only gets one limit for contributions to all 403(b) plans, so if you are also a participant in a 403(b) plan of another employer, your combined contributions to that plan and to the SUNY Tax Deferred Annuity Plan in 2014 are generally limited to $17,500. If you do participate in more than one 403(b) plan, you are responsible for tracking and reporting the amount of all of your contributions to the plans so that the total amount of all your contributions to all plans in which you participate do not exceed the limit. Note also that the sum of all of your contributions, and those of your employers, to all 403(b) plans that you participate in are generally limited to the lesser of $52,000 or 100% of your compensation in 2014.
State employees are able to maximize contributions to both the SUNY Tax-Deferred Savings Plans 403(b) and the NYS Deferred Compensation 457 Plan concurrently.
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?
If you are enrolling in a plan for the first time, you will need to complete the appropriate Investment Provider enrollment materials in addition to a salary reduction agreement. Please contact your campus Employee Benefits Office for more information.
If you are currently enrolled and wish to contribute the same BI-WEEKLY amount in 2014, no action on your part is necessary unless you are currently contributing additional monies under the Age 50 or “15 year catch-up rule outlined above. Please check your pay stub to be sure your current bi-weekly contribution (Code 404, 408 or 415) multiplied by the number of pay periods in the year does not exceed the allowable 2013 limit.
Please be mindful that if you made a change mid year, you will need to make sure that your current biweekly amount will result in the correct annual amount you want deferred for 2013.
For further details, or if you have questions, please contact the Benefits Administrator at your campus at 315-498-2517 or via email to Kathy Sheridan at
Enrollment:
You can enroll in a Voluntary Savings Plan as detailed below.*** Once enrolled, you can review and change the amount of your contributions as often as once per pay period via the same processes as enrollment. The exact date your investment allocations will take effect may vary depending upon the policies of the Investment Provider managing the investment options you chose for Plan contributions.
· NYS Deferred Compensation - Enroll using the materials online or by calling 1-800-422-8463.
· SUNY Voluntary 403(b) Savings Plan - Instructions on how to enroll are detailed below, and vary according to where you are employed:
o Employees at CLINTON,COLUMBIA-GREENE, ERIE,FULTON-MONTGOMERY, HERKIMER, ONONDAGAandWESTCHESTER Community Colleges,and ROSWELL PARK CANCER INSTITUTEenroll online through the RETIREMENT PROGRAM ELECTION SYSTEM. Employees located at CORNELL UNIVERSITY enrollhere. Once you have completed your enrollment election, your campus Benefits Office will review your information and eligibility and send you the appropriateweb link or application forms to complete the 403(b) enrollment process.
o Employees at OTHER SUNY CAMPUSES mustfilea completed salary reduction agreement form with the Benefits Office on campus, and an allocation application with the desired investment provider (with a copy tothe Benefits Office on campus).
If you have additional questions, require further assistance enrolling in the SUNY Voluntary Savings Program, or are unable to contact the Authorized Investment Agentlisted for your campus, please contact the Benefits Office at your campus at 315-498-2517.
* A variable annuity contract is a hybrid investment containing both securities and insurance features. The securities feature of variable annuities provides investors with the opportunity to participate in potential capital appreciation and income through investments in the securities markets. These securities features will, however, subject the investor to market risks. The insurance features of variable annuities permit employees to "annuitize" their contracts, electing to receive a lifetime income option so that they are guaranteed a stream of income payments that they cannot outlive, much as with a pension from ERS or TRS. In exchange for this lifetime income option, however, variable annuities have an extra set of fees, known as Mortality and Expense (M&E) charges that given them higher annual operating expenses than mutual funds. Many annuities are actually funded by underlying mutual funds, which are "wrapped" into an annuity product to give employees access to a broader range of funds while still preserving the lifetime income option protection that annuities afford.
** A mutual fund is a financial intermediary that allows a group of investors with predetermined investment objectives to pool their money together. By pooling money together in a mutual fund, investors can purchase stocks or bonds with much lower trading costs than if they could achieve on their own. Mutual funds have fund managers who are responsible for investing the pooled money into specific securities (usually stocks or bonds). When employees invest in mutual funds they are buying shares of these funds, becoming a shareholder of funds in which they invest. Mutual funds are very cost efficient and a very easy way for employees to invest in since they do not have to figure out which stocks or bonds to buy. Mutual funds also allow an individual investor to achieve much greater diversification than they ever could through the purchase of individual stocks or bonds.
***If you are located at CLINTON, COLUMBIA-GREENE, ERIE, FULTON-MONTGOMERY, HERKIMER, ONONDAGA, or WESTCHESTER Community Colleges, please follow these steps.