More information will be available very soon! Watch your mail for a detailed Transition Guide from TIAA towards the end of January. This will include all information about the upcoming transition and what you can expect.

For more information about TIAA, visit tiaa.org/unc.

To view your retirement accounts with TIAA and Fidelity, you can log in to their websites provided below. On their websites you can review your account balance, update beneficiary information, and change your investment options. For your supplemental accounts, you may also request loans, hardship withdrawals, and distributions. There are also a number of financial tools and learning opportunities available to you.

TIAA: tiaa.org/unc
Fidelity: fidelity.com

To be eligible for retiree health insurance through the State Health Plan, you must be considered vested with at least five years of UNC ORP participation or TSERS service credit. To confirm your eligibility, please contact your UNC System institution’s Benefits office.

Note: Those hired on or after 01/01/2021 are not eligible for retiree health insurance.

One of the requirements to be eligible for retiree health under the ORP is that you must be in receipt of a monthly benefit from your UNC ORP account for your lifetime. The monthly distributions must begin on the first day of a month, and your retiree health coverage is effective the first day of the month following your retirement date. For example, if you would like your retiree health coverage to begin on August 1, your retirement date and distributions need to begin July 1.

As an ORP participant who has previously left the UNC System and is considered vested, when you would like to enroll in retiree health for the first time, you must complete a new ORP-3 form and submit this to your previous UNC System institution’s Benefits office. You will also need to contact your retirement carrier and set up your monthly benefit from your ORP account that is effective the month of your retirement, not the month that your insurance will be effective.

For coverage details and rates, please visit the NC State Health Plan website by clicking here.

For ORP participants, a great place to start is by contacting the vendor where you have your ORP account. Both TIAA and Fidelity have financial consultants assigned to your institution that are available to meet 1-on-1 to review your retirement readiness. If you decide to move forward, you will want to contact your benefits office to begin the retirement process. Your ORP paperwork should be completed and ready to turn into your benefits office at least 60 days prior to your effective retirement date and your vendor’s distribution paperwork should be submitted around 60 days prior as well.

For TSERS members, there is a great retirement tool available online. The most accurate information will be available by logging into the NC ORBIT Website and choosing the “Create A Custom Benefit Estimate” option. By logging in, this will capture your personal information to allow for a more accurate estimate. Be sure to have your vacation and sick time accruals handy! When you have reviewed and believe you are ready to move forward, contact your benefits office. Your TSERS retirement paperwork should be ready to turn in 90-120 days before your effective retirement date.

CAPTRUST is an independent retirement planning and advisory firm that provides services to the UNC System. You are not able to select them as an investment carrier because they do not sell products. Their services and tools are a benefit to you as a benefits-eligible UNC employee. They offer education materials such as webinars, articles, and videos along with retirement and savings calculators and more. They also offer our employees one-on-one advice and can assist you in developing a retirement blueprint to get on the right track.

You may qualify for an exception from taking RMD from your employer-sponsored retirement plan if:

• You are still working
• You have an employer-sponsored retirement account with a business you work for

If you meet both of these criteria, you may delay taking an RMD from the account until April 1 of the year after you retire. Keep in mind that this does not apply to IRAs or other accounts you may hold with companies you no longer work for.

The changes to the state (NC) 403b plan did not affect the UNC Supplemental 403(b) or UNC Supplemental 457(b) plans. Those participants impacted by this change to the state plan have been notified by the NC Total Rewards program and provided instructions on next steps.

Rest assured this does not mean there is an error on your account. Currently, the UNC System Office does not review and change vesting status until after an employee separates or retires from employment, even when you reach five years of contributory service for vesting. If you have questions regarding your vesting status, contact your University’s Benefits Administrator.

Employer and employee contribution percentages are established by the General Assembly and are made on a pre-tax basis, and cannot be increased. Employees can save additional money for retirement by contributing additional funds in supplemental retirement plans, such as the UNC 403(b) or UNC 457(b).

TSERS reciprocity laws [G.S. § 135-4.1(a)] provides that ORP service credit will be considered if:

• First hired prior to January 1, 2021
• ORP service was with an employer who participates in the TSERS plan
• Service credit for the purpose of determining your eligibility for a reduced or unreduced TSERS benefit only
• Only creditable service in TSERS will be used to calculate TSERS pension benefit
• Creditable service shall not be counted twice

“Like Retirement Plan” means a retirement plan of an institution, organization, or system of higher education or health care, in each case in which the individual participates through one or more annuity contracts of an insurance company, or through the purchase of one or more investment funds of a plan-approved mutual fund company, with whom the individual participated in the UNC ORP, or which they could have participated in had participation continued in the UNC ORP.  

Reciprocity laws provide that membership under TSERS, Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System (LGERS) or Consolidated Judicial Retirement System (CJRS) should be considered in determining ORP participation service. In general, the ORP reciprocity rules require that any TSERS, LGERS or CJRS service be prior to participation in the ORP to be included. Additional rules and considerations may apply, so consult with your institution’s University Benefits Administrator for additional information.

The 12-month delay option is good for 12 months immediately following your last day at your UNC System institution. This option places your ORP-3 on hold for those 12 months until you notify us of your new permanent, non-seasonal position prior to the end of your delay. If your 12-month delay expires and we have not received any additional information, we will proceed with a forfeiture of the employer contributions and allow you to access your employee contributions. To provide your new employment information, email orp@northcarolina.edu.

Under the ORP, accrued sick leave remaining at the time of your retirement will not count towards your ORP eligible service. Any unused sick leave an ORP participant has accumulated is forfeited at time of retirement and/or termination of employment.

The ORP will accept eligible rollover distributions or other transfers of funds from eligible retirement plans. This includes plans qualified under IRC Section 401(a), 403(a), 403(b), 408 (Traditional or SEP-IRA), or as a governmental 457(b) plan. The ORP does not accept direct rollovers of after-tax or Roth accounts. Contact your carrier to initiate a rollover.

Employees cannot take loans against their mandatory retirement plans (TSERS or ORP). Employees with supplemental retirement plans (UNC 403(b), UNC 457(b), State’s 401(k), or State’s Deferred Compensation 457(b) plans) have varied pretax and after-tax loan provisions based on plan participation. Loan provisions are covered in more detail in the “Your Supplemental Retirement Plan: 2019 Decision Guide” on page 7.