May I take a loan from the plan?

• Within certain legal limits you may borrow from your own contributions and the investment earnings on your contributions. Loans must be repaid within a 5-year period, or within 10 years if made for home purchase.

With TIAA-CREF funds, loans are available from the Retirement Annuity (RA) and Group Supplemental Retirement Annuity (GSRA) contract, but not from the Supplemental Retirement Annuity (SRA) contract. SRA assets may be transferred to the GSRA contract to take a loan. Assets may also have to be transferred within certain TIAA-CREF investment funds to take a loan.

Consultants from TIAA-CREF or Fidelity can help you calculate the maximum loan available to you. To reach the TIAA-CREF Counseling Center, call 800-842-2776 from 8am-11:00 pm on weekdays and 9am-6 pm on weekends. To reach the Fidelity Retirement Services Center, call 800-343-0860 from 8am-12am on weekdays.

When may I withdraw money from the plan?

• The purpose of a 403(b) retirement program is to save for retirement. The IRS recognizes this by giving tax advantages to employees. There are limited situations in which you are permitted to withdraw contributions before retirement. Withdrawals from the Plan are taxed in the year received, and, if you are under age 59 ½, there may be an additional 10% excise tax. Permitted withdrawals include:

a) You may take a withdrawal of your own contributions for financial hardship, but may not take a withdrawal of University contributions or any investment earnings. The IRS defines hardship as: expenses incurred or necessary for medical care by you, your spouse or dependents; purchase (excluding mortgage payments) of a principal home; payment of tuition for the next 12 months of post-secondary education for you, your spouse, children or dependents; payments to prevent eviction or foreclosure from a principal residence; funeral or burial expenses for your deceased parent, spouse, children or dependents and payment to repair damage to your principal residence that would qualify for casualty loss deduction.

Before you are eligible for a hardship withdrawal, you must take a loan (as described in the above section) and then if additional funds are needed for the hardship situation, you may take a hardship withdrawal.

If you take a withdrawal for financial hardship, all plan contributions must be suspended for six months, commencing with the pay period after the withdrawal is approved.

b) After you reach age 59 ½, you may withdraw all or a portion of your contributions, University contributions and investment earnings in your account.

c) You may withdraw at any time contributions that you have rolled over from a former employer’s plan to the Suffolk plan.

What are the restrictions on withdrawals that apply to certain funds?

• Amounts withdrawn from TIAA Real Estate Account, all CREF accounts and Fidelity funds may be made in a lump sum.

Amounts withdrawn from the Retirement Annuity contract under the TIAA Traditional Annuity will be paid out over a 10-year period, with 10% of the amount withdrawn payable immediately. (There is no similar restriction for the SRA and GSRA contracts with investments in the TIAA Traditional Annuity.)

Who do I contact for additional information about the plan?

TIAA-CREF
800-842-2776
Website: www.tiaa-cref.org/suffolk

Fidelity Investments 
800-343-0860
Website: http://www.fidelity.com/atwork

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