Retirement

All employees are eligible to contribute to the Macalester Retirement Plan on a pre-tax or a post-tax basis. There is no waiting period and all contributions are made by the participant.  Participants may also begin or change their contributions at the start of any month.

There is an annual contribution limit per IRS regulations, and participants may contribute any amount up to their individual IRS maximum. The individual maximum is based on age, length of service, and salary.  The minimum annual contribution required is $200.  This limit does include all pre- and post-tax contributions, but does not include Macalester contributions.

Employee Retirement Contribution Limits

2023 Standard Limit	2023 Age 50+ Limit
$22,500	$30,000

For all eligible employees, Macalester College contributes 10% of the regular base salary to a retirement account with immediate vesting.  These are unmatched funds that are not dependent upon your personal contributions.  Macalester’s contributions are made on a pre-tax basis.

To be eligible for the Macalester retirement contribution, you must:

• Not participate in a collective bargaining unit (pension funds)
• Have completed one year of eligible employment
• Work 1,000+ hours per calendar year

Macalester contributions will begin on the first day of the quarter (January 1, April 1, July 1, or October 1) following your eligibility date. Please note that the one year waiting period is waived for any eligible employee who was employed by another college/university or 501(c)(3) where the employer contributed to that employee’s retirement plan within six months prior to being employed by Macalester.

Visit the TIAA website to establish new user access, view individual retirement account information, and maintain beneficiaries.

Enroll or Change Your Retirement Election

Visit the Benefits Portal to enroll or change your retirement election online. Contact Employment Services with questions.

Funding Allocations

Initial contributions are default funded into a target date retirement fund utilizing your date of birth to align with the corresponding target date retirement fund.  Once enrolled, you can change allocations of existing balances and future contributions if desired to a variety of available mutual funds and annuities.

Updating Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries are entered, updated and maintained through your individual online account with TIAA.  New participants will be prompted to enter beneficiary information when establishing initial online account access to TIAA.

Transferring TIAA funds

Macalester’s contributions to your Retirement Plan cannot be transferred to separate employee contributions. With TIAA’s transfer policy, however, a participant may only transfer 10% per year for 10 years from their TIAA accumulations for all contributions made in their “traditional fund” options. Transfers can take place only once per calendar year.

Accessing Funds

Participants do not have access to retirement funds contributed by Macalester while actively employed by the College unless the participant is at least age 59 1/2.

Departing Macalester

• If your account has a balance greater than $5,000 at the time of your departure, then no action is required.  If your account balance  is less than $5,000 at the time of your departure, you are required to take action.
• You will receive a notice from TIAA and you must take action by contacting TIAA prior to the deadline listed in your individual notice from TIAA and let them know which option you would like to take.
• If you do not take action, account balances of less than $5,000 will be rolled over to an IRA with Millennium Trust Service.
• Accounts with balances of less than $5,000 may be rolled into another existing qualified retirement account or cashed out and taxed accordingly.
• Upon retirement or termination, participants may take cash distribution of up to 100% from their accounts. Exception: Dollars invested in TIAA traditional would be paid out over a ten year period unless the total amount is less than $2,000. However, it is not recommended that you cash out your retirement funds due to tax penalties.

• How to Update your Retirement Contributions Online
• Online Roth 403(b) Tutorial
• Roth Assessment Tool
• Roth 403(b) – Option Summary and FAQ (TIAA)

• Summary Plan Description: Retirement Plan (PDF)