Retirement Information

UND contributes the majority of the NDPERS contributions. The amount contributed is a percent of gross wages. If you were to terminate employment and take a lump sum withdrawal of the account you would receive the employee portion, including the employee portion paid by UND plus interest.

BENEFITS AT RETIREMENT The Public Employees Retirement System is a “defined benefit” plan, which allows members to compute their future retirement benefits from a mathematical formula as set forth in N.D.C.C. 54-52-17(4).

Your NDPERS defined benefit is based on the following calculation:

Final Average Salary
X
Benefit Multiplier
X
Years of Service Credit
=
Monthly Single Life Retirement Benefit

Final Average Salary is calculated as the higher of one of the following:

• Average of your highest 36 salaries of the last 180 months worked calculated on December 31, 2019
• Average of your highest three 12-month consecutive periods of the last 180 months employed

Benefit Multiplier is the rate established by the legislature, at which you earn benefits.

• The benefit multiplier for members first enrolled before January 1, 2020 is 2.00%.
• The benefit multiplier for members first enrolled on or after January 1, 2020 is 1.75%.

To receive a monthly benefit you must meet any of the following requirements.

If you were hired on or before December 31, 2015:

• You must be vested – which is to have a minimum of 3 years of service
• At least 55 years old and there is one half of a percent reduction in your payment for each month you are under age 65
• Or a full benefit at the Rule of 85 or age 65

If you were hired on or after January 1, 2016:

• You must be vested – which is to have a minimum of 3 years of service
• Must be 60 years old and there is a two thirds percent reduction in your monthly payment for each month you are under age 65
• Or a full benefit at the Rule of 90 or age 65

NDPERS will convert a percentage of the contributions you make to a supplemental retirement account, from the NDPERS employer portion to the employee portion. For example, in your first year of employment, if you contribute at least 1% of your salary to a supplemental retirement account, NDPERS will convert 1% of the employer money sent in for you to the employee side. It continues at 2% for the second year, 3% for the third and a maximum of 4 % for the fourth year and more.  There are no matching funds.  This is a transfer of employer contributions, which have already been contributed, to the employee accumulations.

You do not sign up for PEP, enrollment is automatic when you contribute to any 403(b) or 457(b) plan as a payroll deduction.

The total amount of TIAA-CREF that is sent in on your behalf earns interest according to the allocation choices you make.

• You can allocate a certain amount to different funds or choose a Lifecycle Fund. Lifecycle Funds are listed in 5 year increments. If you choose a Lifecycle Fund close to your date of retirement, the investment will be more aggressive the farther that date is away. As you get closer to that date, the investments become more conservative.
• Your allocations can be changed at anytime.
• The transfer of accumulated funds from TIAA to CREF is limited. TIAA is a guaranteed fund and once it is in that fund it stays there until retirement. The accumulations in the CREF accounts can be moved from one CREF fund to another.

If at any point you need assistance in the enrollment process, please call TIAA at 1.800.842.2273 to guide you through the process.

Prior-To Online Enrollment

To review your investment options prior to enrolling, go to www.tiaa-cref.org/und.

• At this point you will click on Explore Benefits. The main plan is the 401(a) DC Plan. The 403(b) and 457(b) are both supplemental plans that can be added now or at a later date. Once you have reviewed your investment options you will be ready to enroll.
• Prior to your online enrollment you will want to have the following information available:
  • Your investment choices
  • Your own personal information
  • Beneficiary’s
    • Social Security number (optional)
    • Date of Birth
    • Address

Enroll Online

1. Go to www.tiaa.org/und
2. Click on Ready to Enroll and choose the 401(a) DC Plan
3. Click on the Register with TIAA button to establish your new account
4. The access code should populate since you have gone in on the UND site, if for some reason it did not, the code is 150010.
5. You may now begin to enter your information
6. There will be a confirmation email you may want to keep for your records

Credit from Previous Position

NDPERS Credit

If you have worked for another ND State Agency and have not taken a refund of your retirement money you should notify UND and your previous agency and a transfer form will be completed for you.

TIAA Credit

Please let the Payroll Office know if you have participated in TIAA at another institution and have not withdrawn your contributions. Include this information on the NDPERS, NDTFFR, TIAA Previous Participation form. Once the information has been verified, the contributions will be credited at the appropriate rate.

Additional Contributions to Retirement

Any employee of the University of North Dakota can contribute to an SRA through TIAA. An SRA is a Supplemental Retirement Annuity, enrollment information is available under Forms on the HR and Payroll Services Website. There is also a list of other companies to tax defer payments through payroll available at the Payroll Office.

Advantages of Tax Deferring

Tax deferring is a retirement savings plan. Taxes are not paid on the amount of money withheld for your tax sheltered annuity. This reduces your taxable gross for the year. When you receive this money as income at retirement you may be in a lower tax bracket.

Changes to Tax Deferring

There is no limit to the number of changes you can make. The employee is responsible for keeping track of the amount of tax sheltering done in a year, so that they do not go over the maximum allowable by IRS guidelines. Contact the retirement specialist at the Payroll Office to find out the maximum allowable for each calendar year.

Allocating Contributions

There is a brief summary of each account available during the TIAA online enrollment process. You may contact TIAA at 1.800.842.2776 or use their web site at www.tiaa.org.

Changing Allocations

The allocation can be changed by calling TIAA 1.800.842.2252 or online at www.tiaa.org.

Retirement after UND

NDPERS Money

You may leave your money in for later withdrawal. You may take a refund of the employee portion of contributions. This would be subject to 20% federal income tax before you receive the money. There is a 10% IRS penalty for early withdrawal if you are younger than 59 1/2 years old, this is assessed when you do your taxes for the year you received the refund.

You may take a retirement benefit if you meet the criteria for a benefit:

• Have at least three years of service and be at least 55 years old. Payment is reduced for every month under age 65 of the retiree. If you began employment after January 1, 2016, you must be at least 60 years old to take a retirement benefit.
• Qualify for the Rule of 85. (Years of service and age add up to 85 or more) If you began employment after January 1, 2016 it is the Rule of 90.
• Be 65 years of age or older

TIAA Money

You may take a lump sum refund of your CREF accounts at termination or leave it for later withdrawal. An employee may take a monthly benefit from TIAA at age 55 if retired.