Retirement Savings Plan
Eligibility
To be eligible for the Retirement Savings Plan, you must be receiving pay directly from Princeton or be a postdoctoral research fellow regardless of duty time.
Your participation begins effective the first of the month coincident with or next following your date of hire or the date the Retirement Savings Plan enrollment form is signed, whichever is later. This form is available online or from your Office of Human Resources.
You may choose to contribute as little as 25 dollars per pay period or as much as permitted by the IRS. In addition, you can start or stop your participation, or increase or decrease your contributions at any time by completing a new salary reduction form. The changes you make will take effect with the next pay period.
If you are newly eligible to participate in this plan, you will receive an enrollment kit from your human resources office. Although we need your completed salary reduction form to begin taking contributions from your paycheck, we encourage you to enroll online with TIAA-CREF or Vanguard, or both, to:
- establish your account, logon and password,
- name your beneficiaries and
- select the investments from either TIAA-CREF or Vanguard or both.
For assistance with enrolling online or information about your TIAA-CREF investment options, visit the TIAA-CREF website or call (800) 842-8412 to speak with a TIAA-CREF counselor or set up an on-campus appointment.
For assistance with enrolling online or information about your Vanguard investment options, visit the Vanguard website or call (800) 523-1188 to speak with a Vanguard participant services associate, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST.
Vesting
You are always 100 percent vested in your Retirement Savings Plan contributions.
If You Leave Princeton
Should you terminate your employment with the University, you can no longer make contributions to the University's Retirement Savings Plan. Your account is available to you as a rollover or cash distribution when you leave the University.
For information about your:
- TIAA-CREF income options, visit the TIAA-CREF website or call (800) 842-8412 to speak with a TIAA-CREF counselor or set up an on-campus appointment.
- Vanguard investment options or to set up an on-campus appointment, visit the Vanguard website or call (800) 523-1188 to speak with a Vanguard participant services associate, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST.
You can count on support from knowledgeable and responsive HR staff when you have a benefits question or problem. Just call or e-mail us. We’re here to help!
While the University intends to continue each of the benefit plans, the University reserves the right to terminate or amend any plan, at any time, and for any reason.