Retirement savings

Eligibility

You are eligible to make elective contributions into the plan if you are an employee of the college (non-student). You may elect deferrals beginning as early as the first day of employment as an eligible employee.

Regular full time and part time employees who work half time or more annually and are 21 years old are eligible to have Reed contribute on your behalf after a one year waiting period (certain exceptions apply, see plan document or contact HR for details). This waiting period will be waived if the employee was employed at an institution of higher education within four months before the first day with Reed and the former employer made contributions to their retirement account. New employees must provide proof of participation in their former employer's retirement plan within the first 30 days of employment Reed.

Description

This plan is intended to provide retirement income. After one year of employment, Reed contributes the equivalent of 10% of your earnings into an account designed to provide income to you in retirement each pay period. These funds are held by TIAA (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and College Retirement Equities Fund) and employees choose from among a variety of investment options.

The college's contributions are immediately vested meaning that they belong to the individual regardless of whether or not they continue to work at Reed.

All employees can make their own contributions to this plan up to the annual IRS limit. The limit for 2024 is $23,000. Although, if you are age 50 or above, you can contribute an additional $7,500.

New hires will be automatically enrolled (some employees, including temporary and on-call employees will not be automatically enrolled) in a 5% employee contribution to the plan if they do not elect to participate or decline within 60 days of hire. New employees have 60 days to opt out of the plan if they do not wish to contribute.

Upon reaching age 55, retirees and former employees will have the option of withdrawing all or part of their funds.

The full description of Reed's retirement plan is available on the TIAA website or call 800-842-2776 to speak with a TIAA representative.

Enrolling in your retirement account

Establish an online account with TIAA within your first 60 days of employment. New employees who do not take action to opt out or to enroll prior to their first 60 days of employement will be automatically enrolled in the plan at a contribution rate of 5% per paycheck.

Follow the steps to enroll in each plan separately - the Employer Contribution plan and the Employee Voluntary Contribution plan. Enrollment will include establishing a user ID and password for your account, assigning a beneficiary or beneficiaries, and choosing your investment allocations. For quick and easy access, download the TIAA app!

New effective June 2024: Current faculty and staff now have the option of using single sign on to quickly access their TIAA retirment accounts.

To speak with someone in the Portland TIAA office, call 503-265-3900. They are located at 9900 SW Greenburg Road, #130, Portland, OR 97223

How can participating lower my tax bill?

There is a significant tax benefit to making contributions to your retirement fund. Since money is placed in the plan without having to pay any taxes on it, the tax deduction can be highly valuable since it reduces the amount of income tax paid in your marginal tax bracket. For example, if the last 10,000 of your adjusted gross income were taxed in the 25% tax bracket, putting that $10,000 into a 403b would net a tax savings of $2,500.

Taxes are paid on distributions in retirement - a time when many people are in a lower tax bracket.

Roth contribution option started January 2024

As of January 2024, you have the option to set up Roth (after-tax) contributions in your TIAA account. These are after-tax paycheck contributions on a flat-dollar or percentage basis. You will manage your contributions by logging in to your TIAA account online as you do with your existing employee contributions.

To add a Roth contribution to your 403b account, log into your TIAA account, navigate to Manage Contributions, select the Date of your change, then choose how to Allocate between your pre-tax and Roth (after-tax) contributions.

See more information on the Roth contribution option.