Are you missing out on the chance to double your retirement contributions?
About 40 percent of eligible Vanderbilt employees are, because they don’t contribute the full amount that can be matched.
Vanderbilt matches 3 percent of your mandatory contribution and 2 percent of your voluntary contribution dollar for dollar once you become eligible.
This means an extra 5 percent of your base pay is being saved toward your retirement. You are always 100 percent vested in your retirement savings, meaning you can take them with you if you leave Vanderbilt.
If you don’t contribute the full amount eligible for matching, you could be giving up hundreds or thousands of dollars in retirement.
Did you know?
Almost 60 percent of employees contribute the full amount Vanderbilt will match toward retirement, up 4 percent since the April transition.
Saving more now could make a big difference in preparing for your future. Whether you are newly eligible for matching or have been saving for a while, small changes may make a big difference!
Vanderbilt’s retirement plan provider, Fidelity Investments, recommends these small steps:
- Save at least enough to take full advantage of your company match.
- If you get a raise, save some of it toward retirement.
- Increase your savings gradually until you’ve reached your goal, such as increasing 1 percent per year.
Plan ahead
Fidelity’s Annual Increase Program allows you to pre-schedule increases to your contribution amount by a certain percentage each year. You can schedule increases between 1 and 10 percent.
You can see the effect of only a 2 percent increase that has been compounded over 25 years shown in the graph below.
To see how an increase in your contribution might affect your take-home pay:
- Log on to your account at www.netbenefits.com/vanderbilt.
- Click on the Library icon.
- Scroll down to click on Calculators & Tools.
- Click the Take-Home-Pay Calculator link.
For assistance, call the Fidelity Retirement Service Center at 800-343-0860.