Clackamas Community College Employee 403(b) Information

What is a 403(b) Plan?

The IRS provides an excellent mini-course in which a hypothetical Human Resources Manager answers questions from an employee about 403(b) Plans. It would be well worth your effort to spend the ten minutes or so required to listen to these questions and answers, but please be aware that this is a hypothetical situation and the features available in this hypothetical 403(b) Plan may not be available in your 403(b) Plan. In particular, a 3% mandatory employer contribution is mentioned as being part of the IRS hypothetical plan, but no such feature is available in any current 403(b) Plan administered by CCC, including your plan.

Am I Eligible To Participate?

Yes, if you receive a paycheck for services provided to Clackamas Community College, then you are eligible to sign up for elective deferrals into the Clackamas Community College 403(b) Plan.

Why Should I Use This Plan?

Numerous approaches to supplemental retirement savings are available to you, including Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA), your employer's 403(b) plan, bank certificates of deposit, savings and loan associations, stocks, bonds, and real estate. Some approaches are tax deferred and others are not. This section explains some of the advantages of tax deferred savings and points out some of the unique features of 403(b) plans. Learn More

How Much Can I Contribute?

New federal law has greatly simplified calculation of your Maximum Allowable Contribution (MAC), but the calculation remains quite complicated for certain employees. This section gives basic information about limits on your contributions and explains how you may request an individualized calculation from Carruth Compliance Consulting, Inc. (CCC), the Employer's consultant. Clackamas Community College does not require any minimum monthly contribution amount. Learn More

How Do I Begin Contributions?

First you must select a vendor and complete the paperwork to establish an account with that vendor. Then, you must sign a Salary Reduction Agreement (online version available from the Employer sub-menu, above) and submit it to the Clackamas Community College Human Resource Office. This section gives step-by-step instructions for beginning participation, explains how the online Salary Reduction Agreement should be completed, and specifies the appropriate office for submission. Learn More

How Do I Change Amounts?

You must sign a revised Salary Reduction Agreement (online version available from the Employer sub-menu, above) and submit it to the Clackamas Community College Human Resource Office. This section gives step-by-step instructions for changing amounts (and/or vendors), explains how the online Salary Reduction Agreement should be completed, and specifies the appropriate office for submission. The rules for frequency of changes allowed and when changes become effective are also provided here. Learn More

Does the Employer Contribute?

As a benefit of employment, some Employers make contributions to the 403(b) TSA Plan on behalf of certain employees. The three types of employer contributions possible in a 403(b) Plan are:

• Employer Discretionary Contributions
• Employer Matching Contributions
• Employer Post-Severance Contributions

Please see the 403(b) Plan Document for Clackamas Community College for additional information about these types of employer contributions and whether or not your Employer's 403(b) Plan involves such contributions.

Which Optional Features Does the District Allow in its 403(b) Plan?

403(b) Optional features are either included in, or excluded from, the Plan, as specified below and as further described in the parenthetically referenced sections in the Plan Document for Clackamas Community College. These options are listed here in abstract for convenient reference:

• 15 Years-of-Service Catch-up Elective Deferral Contributions: Yes
• Age 50 Catch-up Elective Deferral Contributions: Yes
• Direct Rollovers Into the Plan: Yes
• Employer Contributions Allowed: Yes
• Exchanges Within the Plan: Yes
• Hardship Distributions: Yes
• In-service Distributions After Age 59-1/2: Yes
• In-service Distributions From Rollover Accounts: Yes
• Loans: Yes
• Permissive Service Credit Transfers: Yes
• Plan-to-Plan Transfers To the Plan: Yes
• Plan-to-Plan Transfers From the Plan: Yes
• Post-Severance Employer Contributions: Yes
• Roth Contributions: Yes

Transaction Types - Definitions

Click here for information about the various types of transactions associated with 403(b) annuities and custodial accounts.

Why All the Changes this Year?

The IRS published Final 403(b) Regulations during July of 2007 that dramatically changed the way 403(b) Plans must be structured and administered. As a consequence, both Clackamas Community College and all of the Vendors for its 403(b) Plan must follow burdensome and expensive new rules. Several companies that have traditionally offered 403(b) investment products have vacated the 403(b) market entirely as a result. Other companies that plan to remain in the 403(b) market are removing their products as investment options in some smaller plans. You should review information about 403(b) Vendors available at the "403(b) List of Vendors" link in the Clackamas Community College Employee Sub-Menu above. Clackamas Community College has adopted the services of Carruth Compliance Consulting, Inc., an Independent Third Party Administrator (TPA), to provide compliance and administration services. This Clackamas Community College section of the CCC website is designed to provide everything you need to know about your 403(b) Plan.

Roth Contributions Available

Clackamas Community College has decided to allow its employees to make Roth 403(b) contributions to any Clackamas Community College vendor that will accept such contributions. General information about Roth 403(b) contributions, which became available for the first time January 1, 2006, is available. Check the link periodically, since new information will be provided as it becomes available. For the most recent information about which vendors accept Roth 403(b) contributions, please click on the EMPLOYER-VENDOR MATRIX link in the column of navigation links near the top-left of this page, then scroll down to your Employer's section of the resulting matrix. Again, check this list periodically, since additional vendors are likely to begin accepting Roth 403(b) contributions.

What Are My Investment Options?

The Employer maintains a substantial list of investment companies (vendors) and registered representatives (agents). This section provides information about current vendors available to you and their investment products. Also, if you are interested in an investment company or product that is not currently on the vendor list, information about how this company can be added is provided. Learn More

How Do I Change Vendors?

Again, first you must select a new vendor and complete the paperwork to establish an account with that vendor. Then, you must sign a revised Salary Reduction Agreement (online version available from the Employer sub-menu, above) and submit it to the Clackamas Community College Human Resource Office. This section gives step-by-step instructions for changing vendors (and/or amounts), explains how the online Salary Reduction Agreement should be completed, and specifies the appropriate office for submission. Learn More

When Can I Begin Withdrawing?

There are restrictions on when the money you save in a 403(b) plan may be distributed to you. This link provides information on those restrictions. Learn More

What If I Need The Money Earlier?

Under certain circumstances you may be allowed to withdraw portions of your savings early (hardship withdrawals). This link provides information on these circumstances. Learn More

Plan Document for Clackamas Community College

If you'd like to review the most recent Clackamas Community College iteration/draft of its 403(b) Plan Document that will govern 403(b) policies for Employees of Clackamas Community College beginning 1/1/2009, you may do so here. Once the Plan Document is officially adopted by the Employer's Board, the "Draft - Not Effective" banner will be removed.