Retirement Plans

ITHACA COLLEGE BASIC RETIREMENT PLAN (RA)

The Ithaca College Basic Retirement plan is a defined contribution plan that operates under Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Contributions by an employee are made on a before-tax basis.

Eligibility requirements for voluntary participation in this plan:

For eligible faculty members holding the rank of Professor or Associate Professor, or Administrators with Group I Benefits:

• Immediately upon employment.

For eligible faculty members (other than those holding the rank of Professor or Associate Professor), eligible Administrators and Staff with Group II benefits*:

• The completion of 1 year of service at the College.
• The attainment of age 21.

* Group II and Group III employees who were participating in an employer-funded 403(b) retirement plan under the terms of a retirement plan of a two- or four-year college or university in the twelve-month period immediately preceding employment at the Institution are eligible to participate immediately.

To participate in the plan, an eligible employee must complete the necessary enrollment form and salary reduction agreement and return them to the benefits department. An employee who does not do so will be deemed to have waived all of his or her rights under the plan except the right to enroll at a future date.

Once enrolled in the plan, the College will contribute 8.75% of the employee’s annual base salary provided the employee makes the required contribution (currently 5% of annual base salary.)

The total amount of contributions made by the employee for any year will not exceed the limits imposed by the IRC.

ITHACA COLLEGE TAX-DEFERRED ANNUITY PLAN (TDA)

The Ithaca College TDA plan is a defined contribution plan that operates under Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Any employee is eligible to participate in the plan (including part-time, temporary and/or non-benefits eligible.) Contributions by an employee are made on a before-tax basis and no contribution is made by the College.

To participate in the plan, the employee must complete the necessary enrollment form, as well as a salary reduction agreement, and return them to the Benefits Department.

The total amount of contributions made by the employee for any year will not exceed the limits imposed by the IRC.

403(b) CONTRIBUTION LIMITS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2008

• An employee may contribute up to $15,500 during the calendar year. (IRC §402g limit)
• An employee who is age 50 or older in the calendar year may contribute up to an additional $5,000, for a maximum limit of $20,500.
• An employee who has 15 or more years of service with Ithaca College may be eligible to contribute up to an additional $3,000 for the calendar year. Contact the Benefits office to determine eligibility to contribute under this option

Contributions made by an employee as well as contributions the College makes on an employee’s behalf are subject to a number of complex Internal Revenue Code limits. An employee’s salary reduction contributions (to this Plan and to most other retirement plans) cannot exceed the lesser of the dollar limits in the chart above or 100% of their pay.

Contributions made to another employer’s retirement plan in the same calendar year may limit contributions to IC’s plan. Please contact the Benefits office for more information.

The annual compensation limit that can be taken into account for calculating retirement plan contributions is $230,000 for 2008. (IRC §401a(17) limit)

The limit on annual combined employer and employee contributions is $46,000. (IRC §415c(1)(A) limit)