Retirement

PT Salary Reduction Agreement Form

Part-time faculty and non-classroom faculty may join one or both of the following retirement plans. Part-time staff and classroom assistants may join the Supplemental Retirement Annuity Plan.

Note to faculty: A decision not to enroll will not disqualify you from enrolling at a future date. However, you must complete the Retirement Option form indicating whether you are electing to join the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System as a new employee.

NEW YORK STATE TEACHERS’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM (“NYSTRS”) - Defined Benefit Plan

FIT is required by New York State legislation to obtain from all new part-time faculty members, in writing, whether they wish to join or not join the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System. It is mandatory that you indicate your decision, sign, and return a NYSTRS Retirement Option form to Human Resources as soon as possible.

If you join the NYSTRS, your salary will be reduced by 3% each pay period as your employee contribution for the first ten (10) years of membership; no further employee contributions are required thereafter. FIT as your employer, also makes a contribution to the plan on your behalf. A booklet from the NYSTRS describing membership, benefits, and plan guidelines is available in Human Resources. You may also obtain additional information from the NYSTRS web site www.nystrs.org.

SUPPLEMENTAL RETIREMENT ANNUITY PLAN

A Supplemental Retirement Annuity (SRA) 403(b) plan is a tax-deferred annuity for employees who want to set aside a portion of their salary for long term tax-deferred retirement accumulations. (The College does not make any contribution to this plan.) An employee may elect to reduce his/her salary by a given percentage, as long as this amount does not exceed the dollar amount permitted by the Internal Revenue Code’s maximum exclusion allowance. The IRS maximum exclusion allowance limits are $17,500 for employees under age fifty and $23,000 for employees age 50 and over. Employees may make up to four salary reductions changes per calendar year.

Participants in the SRA plan may direct salary reduction monies to one of the following five retirement carriers or divide SRA monies among any number of these four carriers: ING, Met Life, TIAA-CREF, VALIC.

Each carrier offers a variety of investment options. Booklets for each of the carriers are available in Human Resources and may be obtained by calling the Benefits area at extension 73670. Representatives from each carrier are available on campus throughout the spring and fall semesters to meet individually with employees to answer questions on investment options and to assist in retirement planning. A schedule which lists the days each representative will be on campus is circulated each semester by the Benefits area. 

If you are interested in enrolling in the SRA plan, call the Benefits area at 73670 to request further information and enrollment forms.