403b Retirement Plan

Otterbein College offers the opportunity for employees to plan for their long-term security through its 403 (b) defined contribution retirement program. As part of its comprehensive compensation package, the College will contribute to a retirement fund for eligible participants. The College contributes 8% of base pay after two years of service and 13% after 10 years of service. There is no matching requirement by the employee, and employees are immediately and 100% vested (ownership) of both the College's contributions and his/her own contributions.

Upon hire, eligible employees are given the opportunity to make their own pre-tax contributions up to the maximum amount allowed by IRS regulations. While the College's eight (8) and thirteen (13) percent contributions are generous, they are not sufficient on their own to provide the amount of retirement income that most individuals will need. The College strongly encourages employees to contribute as much as they can since this is a defined contribution plan, which generally pays off in relationship to how much and how soon in a career that money was contributed.

The College currently makes available to all qualified employees retirement programs administered by the Teacher Insurance Annuity Association and College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) and Vanguard Group.

Social Security
In addition to 403(b) savings, the employee and the College each pay taxes for Social Security and Medicare. Social Security tax is withheld from employees' wages at a rate of 6.2%. Medicare is withheld at a rate of 1.45%. These are added together and referred to as FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) payroll taxes. Automatic deductions are made from each employee's paycheck and a matching contribution is made by the College. Social Security pays benefits when one retires at age 62 or over, becomes disabled, or dies, if eligibility requirements are met. Medicare is a federal health insurance program for persons age 65 and over, and certain disabled persons. It generally has two parts - hospital insurance and medical insurance.

For more information about social security, go to www.ssa.gov. For more information about Medicare, go to www.medicare.gov.