Emory Report
June 26, 2006
Volume 58, Number 33

 




   
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June 26 , 2006
Employees offered new way to save for retirement

Katherine Hinson is director of communications for HR.

Beginning July 1, 2006 the Roth 403(b), an after-tax retirement contribution plan, will be available to Emory employees. This new way to contribute allows employees to pay taxes now on the money they set aside instead of at the time of withdrawal. An employee can withdraw contributions—plus any earnings—tax free after the account has been open a minimum of five years and the employee has reached age 59½ .

Unlike the Roth IRA, there are no income restrictions on contributing to the Roth 403(b) if an employee is eligible to make pre-tax contributions to the traditional 403(b). Additionally, an employee may make contributions to the traditional 403(b) as well as to the Roth 403(b) as long as the combined contribution amounts do not exceed the total IRS contribution limit for that year. (For 2006, the limit is $15,000 or $20,000 if the employee is 50 or older.)

The Roth 403(b) is a great benefit for those employees who are far from retirement, as it gives them longer to accumulate tax-free earnings. It is also beneficial to those highly compensated employees who are not eligible for Roth IRAs, and for those who wish to leave tax-free money to their beneficiaries.

Starting July 1 Fidelity and Vanguard will offer the Roth 403(b). (TIAA_CREF will offer it later in the year.)
To assist employees in learning more about this option HR is hosting Roth 403(b) Information Sessions:

• Fidelity: Tuesday, June 27, 9–11a.m. and Thursday, June 29, 2–4 p.m., Room 201, Nursing School

• Vanguard: Wednesday, June 28, Noon–2 p.m., Room 201, Nursing School

If you have any questions, contact the benefits office at 404-727-7613.

New employee orientation revised
Starting July 10 the new employee orientation program for staff will be revised. Orientations will now be held on Mondays instead of Tuesdays and will be located in the Rita Anne Rollins Auditorium at the Rollins School of Public Health. The change was made to accommodate schedules, provide more parking and to allow more participants to enroll in a timely manner.

Additionally, at the July 10 session there will be a new component of the program—a 30-minute shuttle tour of campus during which a historical overview will be presented.

Orientation is 8 a.m.–12:30 p.m. For more information, contact HR at 404-727-7611.

Faculty Staff Assistance Program is moving
On July 7, the Faculty Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) is moving from its current location in the Well
House to their newly renovated space at 1762 Clifton Road. Services will begin at the new location
Tuesday, July 11.

To create awareness of the upcoming move FSAP, recently had a contest to name their new location and develop a new tag line, and the results are in:

An overwhelming number of participants from both the University and Healthcare submitted the same location name, so hands down the new location will be called The Emory Wellness Center.

The winners of the new location name are Nicholyn Hutchinson, senior editor, Winship Cancer Institute, and Relindis Vando, medical technologist, Emory Healthcare. Due to the large number of responses with this particular recommendation each submitter was placed into a drawing and two winners were drawn from the pool. Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to all who submitted suggestions.

FSAP is reviewing the recommendations for a new tag line as it is important to ensure that the right message is presented. Please look for more information in the near future about this endeavor.

For a map to the FSAP’s new location or for more information about the move, please visit www.emory.edu/fsap.

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