Retirement

Pension

We are really proud of our pension benefit, redesigned by a group of employees in 1998. Our plan provides a secure pension benefit that grows with each year of service. Early retirement can be elected as early as age 55, with as few as five years of service. And, we have a wide range of pension payment choices available to meet our individual needs in retirement. The value of our pensions never drops when the stock or bond markets fall; it's not that kind of plan. It's there for us to count on in years to come. The formula is simple: 1.5% of final average pay, times years of participation service. "Final average pay" is simply your highest five years of earnings in the last ten prior to retirement.

Employees who are at least 21 years old and are working at least 1,000 hours per year are automatically enrolled in the pension plan. Five years of vesting service are required to receive benefits from this program. A year of vesting service is obtained when 1,000 hours are worked in a calendar year. The Health System funds the majority of the expense for our pension benefit, and employees contribute 2 percent of pay, on a pre-tax basis, toward their pensions. The plan is overseen by a board of trustees, professional money managers and Health System employees and retirees. We're all committed to creating a great pension program for employees and improving this benefit whenever opportunities arise.

Deferred Compensation

The Health System provides a 457 deferred compensation program that allows employees to enhance their personal savings for retirement. The beauty of this program is that employees can save on a pre-tax basis, lowering their payroll taxes now and maximizing the value of their retirement nest egg. We choose where and how our savings are invested from more than 40 investment account options offered through ING and VALIC. We each choose our own investment strategy based on our personal retirement objectives and tolerance for investment risk. For our individual portfolios, we can choose from fixed savings accounts, money markets, income funds and world-wide aggressive growth funds. You can start saving from day one of employment.

Employer Match Savings

A little encouragement goes a long way, especially when it comes to something as important as saving for retirement. In 1998, a group of employees got together with our retirement planning consultants to encourage retirement savings, and a new Employer Match Savings Plan was born. This plan allows the Health System to match eligible employees' contributions to their 457 accounts. The Health System now matches employee savings at the rate of 25 cents on the dollar on contributions of up to 4 percent of pay. Vesting requirements match the Pension Plan.