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| Announcements | Looking Ahead | Spotlight | Learning More | Planning for Retirement |
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Announcements | ^ TOP OF PAGE |
Welcome to the new Making Cents For years, Making Cents has provided retirement planning and financial education to CalPERS 457 Plan participants as part of their quarterly statements from Voya Financial®. With an eye towards the future and a commitment to providing education to all participants, Making Cents is now a digital-only resource that will be posted to calpers457.com and calpers.voya.com, and sent by email in August, November, February, and May to CalPERS 457 Plan participants who have adopted electronic delivery (e-delivery) as part of their communication preferences. We hope you will take time each quarter to go online, read Making Cents, and consider taking action based on your unique retirement planning needs. To join the quarterly Making Cents email list, visit calpers.voya.com to log into your account. Go to your profile in the upper right hand corner of your account homepage, click Communication Preferences, add an email address for your account and update your notifications to paperless or mail options for the CalPERS 457 Plan. You can unsubscribe from CalPERS 457 Plan emails or change your communication preferences at any time. We look forward to providing you with timely information and education throughout your journey to and through retirement.
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Get connected with your dedicated Account Manager The dedicated Account Managers for the CalPERS 457 Plan provide a unique benefit to help you get and stay on track for retirement. One-on-one personal phone appointments are available in English and Spanish to help you review and discuss your retirement planning and saving strategy. Retirement planning isn’t something you have to do alone. The Account Managers are here to help. View the Account Manager for your region and visit calpers457.timetap.com or call 888-713-8244 to schedule a no-cost appointment at a date and time that’s convenient for you. Account Managers also present 1-hour CalPERS 457 Plan webinars throughout the month on a variety of retirement planning topics. View the current schedule of webinars and register to attend. Whether it’s navigating market volatility, improving your financial wellness, or making a plan to reach your retirement goals, there’s something for everyone. |
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Looking Ahead | ^ TOP OF PAGE |
Do something good for those you care about
This September, all CalPERS 457 Plan participants who do not have a beneficiary on file will receive a notice by mail to name their beneficiary immediately. You don’t have to wait until then, though, to manage your account. It’s easy to review and update your beneficiary designation.
For questions about or assistance with the beneficiary designation process, call the CalPERS Plan Information Line at 800-260-0659 and press 2. Representatives are available to assist you weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT, excluding stock market holidays.
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October is National Retirement Security Month Every October, Congress sponsors National Retirement Security Month to raise public awareness about the importance of tax-preferred retirement vehicles, increasing personal financial literacy, and engaging people on the keys to success in achieving and maintaining retirement security throughout their lifetimes. Americans are living longer and their estimated cost of retirement is increasing significantly. What can you do this National Retirement Security Month to help successfully achieve retirement security? If you’re currently contributing to the CalPERS 457 Plan, one way to start is by considering if you’re saving enough and increase your savings if you’re not on track for retirement. Visit calpers.voya.com to log into your account and review your estimated monthly income in retirement. To increase your CalPERS 457 Plan contributions, simply complete a Participant Change Authorization Form and submit it as directed for processing. Starting this year, make it a habit to use National Retirement Security Month to give yourself a retirement checkup. Your future self thanks you. |
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Spotlighting the CalPERS 457 Plan | ^ TOP OF PAGE |
Key findings from the 2023 CalPERS 457 Plan participant survey We asked. You answered. Thank you to everyone who responded to the CalPERS 457 Plan participant survey earlier this year. We received over 1,800 responses from participants of all ages and career stages. The results have been tabulated and reviewed, and we look forward to applying our findings towards participant education throughout the next year. One of the most frequent requests from survey respondents was for more information about the tools available within the CalPERS 457 Plan. One of the tools available, for example, can help answer one very important question — how financially healthy am I? Saving for retirement is one of your most important financial goals, but it’s never done in a vacuum. There will always be more immediate life events and competing priorities that could impact your ability to save. Balancing the needs of now with your goals for the future can be key to your overall financial wellness. Visit calpers.voya.com and click Financial Wellness at the top of your CalPERS 457 Plan account homepage to take the first step towards knowing where you stand financially across all aspects of your life and what you can do to help build a healthier financial future. The Financial Wellness section of your account will measure six pillars of your foundational financial health*.
So how do you achieve financial wellness in any of the pillars of foundational financial health. One way is by paying yourself first. When you save more for retirement to the CalPERS 457 Plan, create any emergency savings account, pay down debt, or save for another personal goal, you pay yourself first. But where do you find the money to do it? Consider starting by banking a tax refund, bonus, or raise you got or may get this year. Then consider building a new spending plan based on your financial wellness assessment results.
For more ways to help cut costs and manage your finances properly, attend the CalPERS 457 Plan webinar Foundations of Financial Wellness. The webinar is offered every second Wednesday of the month at 12 p.m. PT. Visit zoom.us/join and enter ID 915 3409 7599 to register for any of the upcoming sessions and get help on your journey to financial wellness.
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Learning more about the CalPERS 457 Plan | ^ TOP OF PAGE |
How important are fees when saving for retirement Did you know that the cost of investing in a CalPERS Target Retirement Fund has decreased by over 40% since June 30, 2020? The annual cost to invest in a Target Retirement Fund is now 0.26%, down from 0.44% just three years ago. That means it’s a great time to participate in the CalPERS 457 Plan, but you may wonder how much of a difference the 40% reduction in fees makes. Since more of your invested dollars stay in your account, it means you could have more saved for your retirement over time. But how much more? If you had a $50,000 account balance in the CalPERS 457 Plan and contributed $200 per pay period 26 times each year, here is how much you could have in 10, 20, and 30 years invested in a CalPERS Target Retirement Fund with a cost of 0.44% compared to one with the current cost of 0.26%?
The CalPERS 457 Plan is regularly reviewed to help ensure that it best serves those currently participating and those who will do so in the future. Can your retirement plan from a previous employer say the same? Did you know that you could consolidate assets from former employer retirement plans into your CalPERS 457 Plan account? There are a lot of factors to consider when exploring consolidating assets into the CalPERS 457 Plan or rolling your CalPERS 457 Plan account to another retirement plan after leaving employment with the State, a public school, or local public agency. Before you take action with any of your retirement accounts, get help from the professionals. Call Voya’s Account Consolidation Team at 866-865-2660 for their assistance and experience with your rollover options. * Retirement Consultants are registered representatives of and offer securities through Voya Financial Advisors, Inc. (member SIPC). Please carefully consider the benefits of existing and potentially new retirement accounts and any differences in features. Please note that assets rolled over from other non-457 plans (such as 401(a)/401(k), 403(b), a traditional IRA) may remain subject to the IRS 10% premature distribution penalty tax.
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Planning for retirement with the CalPERS 457 Plan | ^ TOP OF PAGE |
Will you be able to retire early? Like many things, it may be possible but will take dedication and effort.
The sooner you can learn to live within a budget now, the sooner you’ll be able to save more for retirement. Achieving true financial independence means living within your means, but what if you live into your 90s and beyond? Would you be able to live well with over 40 years of replacement income coverage if you retired at age 50? So how much is enough? It depends on your lifestyle and income. A good place to start may be by assuming you’ll need about 75% of your current salary each year in retirement to live the same lifestyle as you have today. Then think about your family’s medical history and longevity to estimate your potential life expectancy. The myOrangeMoney* experience on your CalPERS 457 Plan account homepage can help you estimate your monthly replacement income in retirement based on how much you are saving, have saved, when you plan to retire, the performance of your investments, and other factors such as Social Security and even where you plan to live in retirement. Retiring early also means managing healthcare costs for a longer period of time. Remember, you may need to have more saved when retiring early to cover medical expenses in the years before you can apply for Medicare since you’ll need to pay for healthcare coverage during that time. What can you do now to help retire early? If you are young, you can take advantage of potential compounding interest by saving early and consistently. If you are a little late to planning for retirement, you will need to save more of your paycheck to catch up during your remaining working years. To learn more about how much you may need to retire, find out in 60 seconds by visiting voya.com/article/how-much-do-you-need-retire-find-out-60-seconds and take action now to help you retire well. *IMPORTANT: The illustrations or other information generated by the calculators are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results, and are not guarantees of future results. This information does not serve, either directly or indirectly, as legal, financial or tax advice and you should always consult a qualified professional legal, financial and/or tax advisor when making decisions related to your individual tax situation. Information provided by Voya and from registered Plan Service Representatives is for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax or investment advice. Please consult your tax or legal advisor before making a tax-related investment/insurance decision. Local Plan Service Representatives are registered representatives of Voya Financial Advisors, Inc., member SIPC. Plan administration services provided by Voya Institutional Plan Services, LLC. CN3003213_0725
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Designating a beneficiary for your CalPERS 457 Plan account and keeping it updated is critical. Without a beneficiary named on your account, the savings you have accumulated will be payable upon death in accordance with the CalPERS 457 Plan document. If you have a CalPERS pension account, the beneficiary designations for your pension and the CalPERS 457 Plan are managed separately. That means you must name a beneficiary on each account and manage them individually as you add, change, or remove beneficiaries. 
Challenge yourself to a no-spend month. For one month, commit to only spending on necessities like rent, utilities, and food. No dining out, shopping trips or going to shows. Go to free local events, stream something at home, and create savings momentum by avoiding a month’s worth of unnecessary expenses. Review how much more you have at the end of the no-spend month. How many of those unnecessary expenses could you realistically avoid in future months? How much healthier could you be financially by doing that for a year? It takes discipline, but take the challenge today and see how little changes to your lifestyle today can help unlock your savings potential for the future.
Think about when you hope to retire. Is it before age 70? Is it before age 65? If you tend to spend a lot, are you willing to curb some of that spending and create a budget you can live with in retirement? If you can, great. If not, an early retirement may not be for you.