The ARP is a defined contribution plan. Your retirement income is determined by your account balance at the time of retirement, which is comprised of your employee contributions (5% of salary), the employer contributions (9.29% of salary), and any earnings based on the performance of your investments. Participants are 100% vested from their date of enrollment, which means from the date the monies are deposited into your ARP account, they are yours to keep. If you were to leave employment, regardless of how long you were employed, the entire investment account balance belongs to you. The ARP account is also portable, meaning if you leave employment before retirement, you can rollover those monies into a new employer’s retirement plan, or into a different retirement account such as an IRA.
 
Employees contribute 5% of their pay on a pre-tax basis each pay period, while the State System contributes almost twice that amount - 9.29% as the employer contribution each pay period.
 
As part of your initial enrollment through retirement@work, you must create an account with the vendor(s) you choose. This is an important step to setup your beneficiaries and select your investment. Within the retirement@work website, you will be able to view your retirement plan balance across plans and investment vendors. 

 Retirement@Work ARP User Guide

 

Investment Options

The State System annually reviews the investments available to you. This ensures that you are provided with funds that meet certain performance and fee standards. Each vendor has a similar fund menu which can be viewed on the vendor comparison or on the website of each vendor. Investments can be changed at any time to meet your specific goals. 

 

Advice and Guidance

Representatives are available from each vendor free of charge.  You can meet with representative on campus, over the phone, or online. They can assist with investment options or discuss your personal goals.
Meet with Fidelity Meet with TIAA
 

Update Account Information

It's important to keep your account information and beneficiaries up to date. Log in to your online account with Fidelity or TIAA to update your information.
 Fidelity TIAA


Withdrawal Options

Employees can take money from their ARP plan after they separate employment. There are many options available such as rollovers, annuities, or you can leave your money in the plan. If the account balance does not exceed $7,000, an automatic rollover to an IRA will occur and participation in the ARP will terminate. Like a pension plan, you have the ability to convert your account balance at retirement to guaranteed monthly payments.
 

Plan Documents