Deferred Compensation 457(b) Plan

Eligible individuals include: Faculty members or staff members in the Senior Leadership Career Stream of the University who meet the following eligibility requirements:

Scheduled to earn annual compensation* in 2025 of at least $170,000 ($10,000 more than the IRS-specified highly compensated employee dollar limit for the year [$160,000 for 2025])

and

Are contributing the IRC maximum amount to the University 403(b) Retirement Program ($23,500 for 2025)

No service requirement

Pre-tax salary deferrals

Note: You may enroll in the Plan any time after you become eligible; however, IRS regulations dictate that enrollments must be processed no earlier than the first of the month following the month in which you enroll.

$23,500

Note: Catch-Up Contributions permitted the 3 years prior to age 65 (normal retirement age). Please contact the Office of Total Rewards for eligibility and enrollment in catch-up contributions.

Faculty/staff decide how contributions are invested among a selection of professionally managed funds. For investment option details, visit TIAA.

Following separation from service, participants have 60 days to make an election with respect to when they want funds paid. Failure to make an election within the 60-day Commencement Period will result in a lump-sum payment distribution, less applicable taxes withheld.

Federal tax and employee benefit rules require the Deferred Compensation 457(b) Plan to be “unfunded.”

To defer taxation, i.e., to create an unfunded plan, it is necessary that accounts be subject to potential risk of forfeiture should the University become insolvent. This does not mean that the Plan does not have any assets. The University remits contributions to the recordkeeper, TIAA.

Under Section 457(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, your deferrals under this Plan (including any earnings) must be part of the University of Rochester’s general assets. This means that in the unlikely event that the University of Rochester ever became insolvent, your Plan benefits would be subject to the claims of the University’s general creditors and you might lose part or all of your benefits.