Retirement Income Plan for Employees (ERIP)
Download the ERIP Summary Plan Description for detailed information about the benefits available to you.
Celebrate your one-year anniversary at the University by enrolling in the Retirement Income Plan for Employees (ERIP). Regular staff employees age 21 or older, who work at least 1,000 hours annually, earn benefits under the following two mandatory retirement plans beginning on their one-year anniversary of employment:
- Retirement Income Plan for Employees (ERIP)
- Pension Plan for Staff Employees (SEPP)
SEPP is a tax-qualified 401(a) defined benefit pension plan. To learn more about SEPP, please visit SEPP.
ERIP is a 403(b) defined contribution plan that provides benefits through retirement savings accounts. Under ERIP, you establish an account into which both you and the University contribute a percentage of your pay each pay period. The University contributes 2.5% of your compensation and you contribute 3% by payroll deduction. These contributions and their investment earnings make up your retirement savings account from which you can draw retirement income.
Participant Directed Investments
You may direct the investment of both the University's and your own contributions among the investment options offered by TIAA-CREF and Vanguard. Because participation is a condition of employment for all who are eligible, enrollment automatically occurs as soon as the eligibility requirements are satisfied. While enrollment is automatic, we encourage you to complete the ERIP Vendor Selection Form and TIAA-CREF and/or Vanguard enrollment forms:
- Should you wish to invest your ERIP account with Vanguard, you must communicate this to Benefits by completing the ERIP Vendor Selection Form. If you do not timely designate an investment carrier by completing the ERIP Vendor Selection Form, your ERIP account will be invested, by default, in the age-appropriate TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Fund.
- If you designate TIAA-CREF and/or Vanguard to hold your ERIP contributions but you do not specify the particular funds in which you want to invest, your contributions will be directed to the age-appropriate TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Fund or Vanguard Target Retirement Fund (as applicable). If you would like to change your fund selection, you may do so by contacting the investment company directly.
- It is important that you designate your primary and contingent beneficiaries to receive your ERIP assets in the event of your death.
Contributions and Earnings are Tax-Deferred
All amounts held in your retirement savings account are tax-deferred. This means you pay no income taxes on your ERIP benefits until you receive payments from the plan.
Vesting
You are always fully vested in your own contributions and any earnings thereon. You will be fully vested in the University's contributions after completing three years of service.
Defined Benefit Component
ERIP includes both the defined contribution component described above and a defined benefit component that was frozen December 31, 2008. Beginning January 1, 2009, the ERIP defined benefit component was succeeded by a new plan, called SEPP.
Employees who earned a pension under the ERIP defined benefit component before January 1, 2009 will not lose that benefit. Going forward, all eligible employees will earn additional benefits under SEPP.
To learn more about any benefit you may have earned under the ERIP defined benefit component, active employees should refer to the annual defined benefit plan statement that was mailed to their home in June 2010.
Additional Resources
A few weeks before your one-year anniversary of employment, you will receive a letter inviting you to attend a One-Year Anniversary Retirement Plan Information Meeting. We encourage you to attend one of these monthly sessions at which representatives from TIAA-CREF and Vanguard will be available to help you with your enrollment and investment selection.
Individual meetings with TIAA-CREF and Vanguard financial advisers are available by appointment.
For more information, download the Retirement Income Plan for Employees Summary Plan Description.