Transition to enhanced retirement program begins as Fidelity’s Purdue-dedicated website opens for enrollments
Fidelity's Purdue-dedicated website is now ready to accept enrollments in the University's new retirement investment fund lineup. Employees who participate in Purdue's defined contribution and/or voluntary savings (TDA) retirement plans may now make their investment choices for the enhanced program, which will go into effect in January.
While the site will be an ongoing service for handling Purdue enrollments and changes, faculty and staff who want to ensure their choices are effective for January should plan to make their selections by early December.
The current array of investment options and retirement plan administrators will be replaced by the new fund lineup and a single administrative recordkeeper, Fidelity. Faculty and staff will need to choose from the new lineup for investing all retirement contributions made in January and beyond, including the new mandatory 4 percent employee contribution for defined contribution plan participants.
If employees do not enroll in the new lineup, designated default investment options will be used to allow employer contributions to continue uninterrupted to Fidelity and that the new mandatory 4 percent employee contribution will begin; however, an employee's 403(b) and 457(b) voluntary savings plan (TDA) contributions will stop in January unless the employee actively enrolls.
A variety of resources will be available to help faculty and staff through the transition.
* Transition guide: Faculty and staff participating in the defined contribution retirement fund, and those currently serving their three-year waiting period for participation, will receive a transition guide from Fidelity this week via campus mail. The guide provides information about the new funds and outlines actions that employees need to take.
PERF participants will receive a transition guide in early October. Although the PERF retirement plan is not changing, PERF participants with voluntary savings (TDAs) must select from the new lineup for any contributions beginning in January.
* Group meetings: Fidelity will hold group meetings at all four campuses. The meetings will cover the retirement plans, the new fund lineup and key dates. Fidelity also will walk through the online enrollment process.
To register for a group meeting at the West Lafayette campus, log in to the registration system at https://www2.itap.purdue.edu/bs/Training2.0/login_form.cfm by using your Purdue career account and password. Select the "Fidelity Workshops" category. Regional campus employees should contact their campus Human Resources office.
* Live video streams: Two of the Fidelity group meetings will be streamed live via the Web. Watch Purdue Today and the Staff Benefits website at www.purdue.edu/benefits/ for links to sessions at 9-10:30 a.m. (ET) Oct. 6 and 1-2:30 p.m. Oct. 7.
* Online enrollment and planning tools: Through Fidelity's Purdue-dedicated website at www.plan.fidelity.com/purdue, faculty and staff will be able to enroll and take advantage of numerous retirement planning tools.
* Phone resources: Phone representatives are available through Fidelity to discuss investment options and provide enrollment assistance. Phone assistance is available 8:30 a.m. to midnight (ET) at 800-343-0860.
* One-on-one appointments: Fidelity is offering confidential consultations to all interested faculty and staff. During the appointment, Fidelity will answer questions about the enrollment process and can guide participants in reviewing their total retirement planning strategies and making elections in the new investment options.
To schedule a one-on-one appointment, go to Fidelity's Purdue-dedicated website at www.plan.fidelity.com/purdue and click "Register online" in the "Get guidance" box on the right-hand side of the screen.
* Purdue-dedicated Fidelity office on campus: Fidelity will open temporary offices in Hicks Undergraduate Library on Sept. 27. Fidelity's permanent office will open in Purdue Memorial Union in January or February.
