Faculty

Full-time or adjunct faculty member under contract and receiving remuneration.

Staff

Employed by AU on a full-time or part-time basis.

 

Enrollment

You are eligible to enroll in the Plan immediately. Enroll and make your contribution elections in Workday.

Automatic enrollment

If you have completed one year of service*, you will be automatically enrolled in the American University 403(b) Retirement Plan, unless you have previously enrolled on your own or opt out of the one-year anniversary automatic enrollment.

If you are automatically enrolled, the Plan will deduct 1% of your pay and match that 1% with an additional 2%. These contributions will be defaulted to an account with Fidelity Investments and invested in a Vanguard Institutional Target Retirement Fund-Institutional Shares with the target retirement date closest to the year you might retire, based on your current age and assuming a retirement age of 65. You can change your investment option at any time.

*You have worked at AU for 12 consecutive months, worked at least 1,000 hours during that 12-month period, and are normally scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week.

Contributions

You can contribute from 1% to 100% of your eligible pay, up to the annual IRS dollar limits. If you are under age 50, federal tax law limits your contributions for pretax deferrals and Roth contributions to $23,000 for 2024. If you will be at least age 50 during the year, the Plan allows you to contribute an additional $7,500 in “catch-up” contributions.

Catch-Up Contributions

If you have reached age 50 or will reach 50 during the calendar year (January 1 – December 31) and are making the maximum Plan or IRS contribution, you may make an additional “catch-up” contribution each pay period. You make catch-up contributions through payroll deductions, the same way you make regular contributions.

Pretax Contributions

Pretax contributions allow you to postpone paying taxes on the amount you contribute and the earnings that are generated as long as they remain in the Plan. When you take a distribution from the Plan or withdraw the funds at retirement, you will pay taxes on them.

Roth Contributions

A Roth contribution is available to employees who participate in the American University 403(b) Retirement Plan and allows participants to make after-tax contributions and take any associated earnings completely tax-free at retirement - as long as the distribution is a qualified one. A qualified distribution, in this case, is one that is taken at least five tax years after your first Roth contribution and after you have attained age 59½, or become disabled or die.

• You are eligible to receive the 2-to-1 matching contributions if you have worked at AU for 12 months, and are normally scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week for at least 1,000 hours per year; or
• If you have a year of service at another 501(c)(3), non-profit, or university, you may be eligible for a waiver of the one-year waiting period.

The first five percent (5%) of your contributions are matched 2-to-1 by the university once you become eligible for the match, for a total contribution of up to 15 percent.

If you were hired after May 1, 2008, you are enrolled automatically to receive the university's 2-to-1 match when you become eligible to receive the match.

If you have a year of service at another 501(c)(3) nonprofit or university, you may be eligible for a waiver of the one-year waiting period (student employment excluded). Download Retirement Plan Eligibility Verification form and send it to your previous employer. Return the completed form to the American University Office of Human Resources.

Pretax and Roth deferrals are eligible for a university match under the Plan.

 

If you have a year of service at another 501(c)(3) non-profit or university, you may be eligible for a waiver of the one-year waiting period (student employment excluded). You will need to download and send the AU Retirement Plan Eligibility Verification Form to your previous employer and return the completed form to the American University Office of Human Resources.

• Fidelity Navigating Market Volatility
• Fidelity Replacing Lost Income
• TIAA Overall Market Commentary 
• TIAA 3 Strategies for Staying on Track
• TIAA Diversification and Market Volatility
• TIAA How to Weather Stock Market Volatility

The American University 403(b)retirement plan lineup offers a broad array of investment options that allow you to develop a diversified asset mix with Fidelity, TIAA, or both. 

The Plan is divided into four tiers to satisfy varying levels of desired involvement in allocating retirement dollars.

Tier 1: Target Date Retirement Funds
Tier 2: Passively Managed Funds
Tier 3: Actively Managed Funds
Tier 4: Brokerage Option

Default investment option

The default investment option for the American University 403(b) Retirement Plan is the Vanguard Institutional Target Retirement Funds Institutional Shares on the Fidelity lineup closest to the year you might retire and assuming a retirement age of 65. The default investment option is applied to eligible faculty and staff who are auto-enrolled or new Plan participants who have not selected an investment option from the Plan’s lineup. You may change your investment mix at any time by contacting your investment service provider of choice.

Visit TIAA's or Fidelity's American University Retirement microsites for information regarding AU's retirement plan investment options.

When you are “vested” in your savings, it effectively means the money is yours to keep. You are always 100% vested in all contributions you and the university make to your account in the Plan, as well as any earnings on them.

Your beneficiary or beneficiaries will inherit your account in the event of your death. Identifying a beneficiary when you enroll in the Plan is critical and updating your beneficiary designation when you experience a life-changing event such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, or a death in the family will confirm that your account will be distributed per your wishes.

Beneficiary information is maintained by the investment service providers and can be updated by contacting them directly:

Update your beneficiaries with Fidelity

1. For help managing your beneficiaries, contact Fidelity at 800-343-0860
2. Visit www.netbenefits.com/au and login to your account
3. Click on "Profile" link and select "Beneficiaries"
4. Click "Edit" to update or add beneficiaries
5. Click "Save All" to review and accept your beneficiaries

 

Update your beneficiaries with TIAA

1. For help with managing your beneficiaries contact TIAA at 800-842-2252
2. Visit www.tiaa.org/american and log in to your account and then select Beneficiaries to access the “Your Beneficiaries” landing page
3. Click on the Actions tab, and then select Beneficiaries to access the “Your Beneficiaries” landing page, 
4. Click “Add New or Edit Existing” Beneficiaries
5. Review your changes and submit your election

You may also call your investment service provider directly to request a beneficiary form.

You are generally allowed to withdraw money from the Plan when you leave the university, retire, or become permanently disabled. Also, you may be eligible for a distribution if you have a financial hardship as defined by the Plan. Withdrawals may be subject to income taxes and, if they occur prior to you becoming age 59½, a 10% early withdrawal tax penalty.

Please contact your investment service provider directly for more information on taking a withdrawal from the Plan: 

• Fidelity – 800-343-0860

• TIAA – 800-842-2252

Although your Plan account is intended for the future, you may borrow from your account for any reason. Generally, Plan rules allow you to borrow up to 50% of your vested account balance (at Fidelity and TIAA combined).

The minimum loan amount is $1,000, and a loan must not exceed $50,000. Any outstanding loan balances from the previous 12 months may reduce the amount you have available to borrow. You then pay the money back into your account, plus interest, through ACH deductions from your bank account.

You may have two loans outstanding at a time. The cost to initiate a loan at Fidelity is $75, and there is a quarterly maintenance fee of $6.25. The initiation and maintenance fees are deducted directly from your Plan account. TIAA does not charge loan fees.

Call Fidelity or TIAA for more information:

• Fidelity – 800-343-0860
• TIAA – 800-842-2252

If you have retirement savings in another employer’s plan or in an IRA, you can generally  bring it to the university’s retirement plan. It may help make it easier to manage your savings and plan for your goals.

Contact Fidelity Investments or TIAA for details on rolling over your account balance in an IRA or an employer-sponsored retirement plan to the university’s retirement plan.

Be sure to consider all your available options and the applicable fees and features of each before moving your retirement assets.

Faculty and staff participating in the Retirement Plan are encouraged to schedule one-on-one appointments with our Fidelity and TIAA consultants to discuss all aspects of retirement planning. These sessions are provided at no cost to you.

• Schedule an individual consultation with a Fidelity representative or call 800-642-7131.
• Schedule an individual consultation with a TIAA representative.