Retirement Plans
Faculty and staff will participate in the Swarthmore College Regular Retirement Plan (403(b) Plan) after completing one year of eligible service (i.e., 1000 hours in an anniversary year). This waiting period is waived, however, upon the faculty or staff member providing acceptable documentation of prior eligible service with an employer that sponsored a 403(b) Plan by having the Early Entry Form completed by their prior employer's Human Resources Department and submitting it to benefits@swarthmore.edu for review and approval.
Participation in the Swarthmore College Retirement Plan is mandatory and is a condition of employment once the eligibility requirements have been satisfied. These mandatory/basic non-elective 403b contributions to the plan continue as long as the employee is actively employed by the College in an eligible status. Employees are 100 percent vested in their accounts on the date participation begins. Contributions to this mandatory/basic portion of the Retirement Plan are calculated according to the following schedule:
| College Contribution | Employee Contribution | |
|---|---|---|
| First $20,000 of annualized salary | 10% | 0% |
| Annualized Salary in excess of $20,000 | 10% | 5.5% |
How do I put more money into my retirement plan?
You need to complete a Salary Reduction Agreement (SRA) to put more money into your retirement plan. These voluntary contributions will be on top of (in addition to) your mandatory/basic contributions. Any new SRA replaces the one on file and becomes effective the 1st of the month as designated on the form. All SRA's must be submitted to benefits@swarthmore.edu at least 30 days prior to the month in which the employee wants additional or supplemental (voluntary) contributions or changes to begin. If the SRA is not received timely, the requested changes will not be processed until the 1st of the next month.
Supplemental/Voluntary Retirement Contributions
Employees may contribute additional sums to their Swarthmore College Retirement Plan, on a voluntary basis. These elective supplemental/voluntary contributions cannot exceed the legally allowed IRS maximum per calendar year. These are employee contributions only with no College contribution. Like contributions to the mandatory/basic portion of the Retirement Plan, supplemental/voluntary contributions will be withheld from the employee's pay on a before-tax basis as designated on the SRA submitted to the benefits department.
Notice: This plan is governed in accordance with provisions of the Plan Documents and related Administrative agreements. Please refer to the Summary Plan Description for additional details and contact benefits@swarthmore.edu with any questions.
