Retirement Savings
Carnegie Mellon’s retirement program offers options to allow faculty and staff a financially-secure retirement.
- The university makes contributions through the Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan.
- Faculty and staff can make traditional pre-tax or post-tax Roth contributions to a Supplemental Retirement Account through the Tax Deferred Annuities Plan.
- You are responsible for investing the money contributed by the university and by you.
- Faculty and staff who are considered non-resident aliens may participate in the Vanguard 401(k) plan.
| Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan (FSRP) | Supplemental Retirement Account (SRA) through the Tax Deferred Annuities Plan |
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| Who is Eligible? |
Retirement-benefits-eligible employees who work at least 1,000 hours in an employment year (minimum age 21) See the Plan Description [pdf] for information about eligibility. |
All employees |
Complete the TIAA-CREF and/or Vanguard application(s) to select your investment allocations. See Enrolling in Your Carnegie Mellon Retirement Benefits [pdf]. |
Complete the Salary Reduction Agreement and appropriate carrier enrollment form(s). See Enrolling in Your Carnegie Mellon Retirement Benefits [pdf]. | |
| Employee Cost |
You do not need to contribute to the SRA to receive university contributions. | The amount you contribute per month is up to you. |
| Amount Contributed* |
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Your choice, via payroll deduction. Total cannot exceed annual salary. Contact TIAA-CREF to determine your personal limit. Limit applies to contributions to all 403(b) or 401(k) plans combined. |
| Investment Options |
Your choice. If you do not select funds, your contributions will be invested into an age-appropriate TIAA-CREF LifeCycle fund (based on a retirement age of 65). |
Your choice of investment funds and whether contributions are pre-tax or Roth. |
| Vesting for Life (You own/keep contributions) |
You are vested if:
Service rendered to another college or university that would have met Carnegie Mellon's vesting requirements may reduce your vesting period if you worked at the other university within the past five years. For this service to be recognized for vesting purposes, please submit a Prior Service Credit Request [pdf] to the Retirement Benefits Specialist. |
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| Taxation at Time of Contributions | You are not taxed on the contributions Carnegie Mellon makes on your behalf. | Contributions into a traditional 403(b) account will reduce your taxable income. Roth 403(b) contributions will be made with salary for which taxes have been assessed. |
| Taxation at Distribution | All contributions and their earnings will be taxable at withdrawal. An additional penalty will be assessed if you withdraw the funds prior to age 59 ½. |
Traditional, pre-tax contributions and their earnings will be taxable at withdrawal. Roth 403(b) contributions and their earnings are untaxed in retirement if you participated for at least five years and are age 59 ½. |
*Generally, per IRS rules, contributions cannot exceed $50,000 per year (all sources and plans combined). The Plan Administrator may request information regarding other plan contributions to ensure compliance with the limitations under Code section 415. Regardless of whether an inquiry is made, however, you must inform the Plan Administrator of the existence of the other plan and the contributions or benefits that you accumulate under that plan. If the Plan Administrator is unaware of that other plan, the Plan Administrator cannot apply the combined limits to this plan. It is your sole responsibility to assure compliance with the combined limits by limiting your contributions or benefits in that other plan. If you have questions, please contact the Retirement Benefits Specialist at 412-268-3215.