Retirement

All employees are eligible to contribute to the Macalester Retirement Plan on a pre-tax or a post-tax basis. There is no waiting period and all contributions are made by the participant.  Participants may also begin or change their contributions at the start of any month.

There is an annual contribution limit per IRS regulations, and participants may contribute any amount up to their individual IRS maximum. The individual maximum is based on age, length of service, and salary.  This limit does include all pre- and post-tax contributions, but does not include Macalester contributions.

Employee Retirement Contribution Limits

For all eligible employees, Macalester College contributes 10% of the regular base salary to a retirement account with immediate vesting.  These are unmatched funds that are not dependent upon your personal contributions.  Macalester’s contributions are made on a pre-tax basis.

To be eligible for the Macalester retirement contribution, you must:

• Not participate in a collective bargaining unit (pension funds)
• Have completed one year of eligible employment
• Work 1,000+ hours per calendar year

Macalester contributions will begin on the first day of the quarter (January 1, April 1, July 1, or October 1) following your eligibility date. Please note that the one year waiting period is waived for any eligible employee who was employed by another college/university or 501(c)(3) where the employer contributed to that employee’s retirement plan within six months prior to being employed by Macalester.

Visit the TIAA website to establish new user access, view individual retirement account information, and maintain beneficiaries.

Enroll or Change Your Retirement Election

Visit the Benefits Portal to enroll or change your retirement election online. Contact Human Resources with questions.

Assistance with Planning for Medicare

If you are looking for information and guidance on Planning for Medicare, please contact our resource at the Breitenfeldt Group. Click here to learn more.

Funding Allocations

Initial contributions are default funded into a target date retirement fund utilizing your date of birth to align with the corresponding target date retirement fund.  Once enrolled, you can change allocations of existing balances and future contributions if desired to a variety of available mutual funds and annuities.

Updating Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries are entered, updated and maintained through your individual online account with TIAA.  New participants will be prompted to enter beneficiary information when establishing initial online account access to TIAA.

Transferring TIAA funds

Macalester’s contributions to your Retirement Plan cannot be transferred to separate employee contributions. With TIAA’s transfer policy, however, a participant may only transfer 10% per year for 10 years from their TIAA accumulations for all contributions made in their “traditional fund” options. Transfers can take place only once per calendar year.

Accessing Funds

Participants do not have access to retirement funds while actively employed by the College unless the participant is at least age 59 1/2. This includes both the employee and the Macalester employer contributions.

Departing Macalester

• If your account balance is less than $1,000, it can be rolled over into another existing qualified retirement account or an IRA. However, if you do not respond by the due date, your account balance will be cashed out (minus all applicable taxes) and mailed to your address on file.
• You will receive a notice from TIAA and you must take action by contacting TIAA prior to the deadline listed in your individual notice from TIAA and let them know which option you would like to take.
• If you do not take action, account balances of less than $7,000 will be rolled over to an IRA with Inspira Financial Trust Company.
• Accounts with balances of less than $7,000 may be rolled into another existing qualified retirement account or cashed out and taxed accordingly.
• Upon retirement or termination, participants may take cash distribution of up to 100% from their accounts. Exception: Dollars invested in TIAA traditional would be paid out over a ten year period unless the total amount is less than $2,000. However, it is not recommended that you cash out your retirement funds due to tax penalties.

• How to Update your Retirement Contributions Online
• Roth 403(b) – Option Summary and FAQ (TIAA)
• Pre-tax vs Post-tax contributions: Which is right for you
• If you are looking Planning for Medicare information and guidance please contact our resource at the Breitenfeldt Group. Click here to learn more.

Individual counseling sessions are provided through TIAA representatives and are available to all Macalester staff and faculty. No matter where you are in life, whether it is just getting started or planning for retirement—a session with a TIAA Financial consultant can help you create a unique plan for your goals. And, it’s at no additional cost as a part of your retirement plan. You’ll get answers to these questions and more:

• Am I invested in the right mix of investments to help meet my goals?
• Am I saving enough to create the retirement income I need?
• How do I take income from my retirement account once I stop working?

To schedule your individual counseling session, visit www.tiaa.org/schedulenow  and follow these steps to complete your registration:

• Log in using your TIAA.org credentials or register for access or create a Guest access ID
• Select Macalester as the employer
• Select Minnesota as the state
• Choose a meeting topic
• The next section of “How would you like to meet” is set for “with video”
  • From here you can choose an available date you would like to meet and an available time
  • You’ll enter your preferred email address (you’ll receive a confirmation email and a reminder email)
  • And you can add any additional notes
• You’ll click the “Confirm” button and the meeting will get scheduled!
• If there’s an error in any part of the previous sections, you should receive a note in Red and know what to correct

Employees have access to webinars through TIAA for no cost as they are apart of our retirement plan. These webinars are generally one hour in length. Reserve your spot now by visiting TIAA.org/webinars. Recordings of the webinars are made available 90 days after the live event.

Quarter 2 Webinars

• April 8th, 2025: Quarterly Economic and Market Update
• April 16th, 2025: Planning for Life Milestones
• April 24th, 2025: Navigating the Sandwich Generation: Financial Strategies for the Caregiving Squeeze
• May 7th, 2025: How Can I Afford College for My Kids or Grandkids?
• May 15th, 2025: Financial Wellness and Mental Health: Insight from the TIAA Institute
• June 11th, 2025: Set Your Retirement Date: Understand the Factors to Get You to Your Goal
• June 26th, 2025: How Longevity Affects Financial Planning and Family Caregiving

Read more about the Quarter 2 Webinars

• Summary Plan Description: Retirement Plan (PDF)
• Updated Commission, Fee Schedule & Other updates to the customer account agreement (PDF)