Personal Assistance For Your Payroll Team

The CalPERS Supplemental Income 457 Plan comes with a high level of personal service for your agency’s internal payroll team.

Our CalPERS 457 Plan team can:

• Introduce newly hired payroll specialists to the CalPERS 457 Plan and my|CalPERS.
• Offer training, including refresher sessions, to new and experienced payroll specialists.
• Provide the steps to start or stop payroll deductions for CalPERS 457 Plan deferrals in an electronic copy of the CalPERS 457 Plan Employers Guide.
• Give ongoing payroll and contribution support, including guidance for making changes.
• Explain how to process loan repayments and access loan feedback reports if your agency has adopted the CalPERS 457 Plan loan provision.
• Assist with my|CalPERS, including login and password resets and what to do if error messages appear.
• Put you in contact with your account manager to arrange participant education.

If your payroll specialists need anything related to the CalPERS 457 Plan, they can send an email or call the Employer Service line at 1-800-696-3907 Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. (Pacific Time). Our team will help directly or connect them with the right person or resource.

Six New Year’s Strategies For Your Agency

Happy New Year! Here are some suggestions that might help your agency save time and reduce stress in the months ahead.

1. Request a plan review.
   A plan review can help you satisfy your fiduciary responsibility for overseeing the CalPERS Supplemental Income 457 Plan at your agency. Get the latest statistics on participation, contributions and total assets in the Plan. CalPERS can present your review in person and as a written document. Email Dave Saavedra or call 1-916-795-3908.
   
   
2. Verify tax year.
   Work closely with Voya^® Institutional Plan Services, LLC, the company that handles recordkeeping administration for the CalPERS 457 Plan, to be sure your participants’ contributions to the CalPERS 457 Plan are credited to the correct tax year if the pay date for the last payroll of 2017 is not the same tax year as your pay date. For additional my|CalPERS support, call us toll free 1-800-696-3907 or send an email.
   
   
3. Double-check forms.
   Review all employee and employer information on enrollment forms. Every section has to be filled in completely and legibly. Contact employees to redo the form if you can’t read their writing or if any spaces are blank. In the employer section, spell out the employer name without abbreviations and write in the Agency Plan Number. Every form needs two signatures: the participant’s and the employer’s.
   
   
4. Promote this link.
   Whenever your employees want to talk with a CalPERS 457 Plan representative by telephone or during on-site visits at your agency, they can arrange one-on-one appointments by using www.calpers457.checkappointments.com.
   
   
5. Update intranet content.
   If your agency has intranet pages regarding the CalPERS 457 Plan, you can save time by using the employer intranet template to pull in up-to-date plan information and forms, automatically.
   
   
6. Report changes promptly.
   Whenever your agency’s contact people in payroll, HR or administrative support change, please let the CalPERS 457 Plan team know right away. Call toll free 1-800-696-3907 or send an email.
   

Higher Contribution And Catch-Up Limits In 2018

Please remind all Plan participants that the Internal Revenue Service raised the limits on contributions in 2018.

Make sure your employees who are close to retiring know that they could save more for retirement by making a catch-up contribution to the CalPERS 457 Plan if they are at least age 50, or if eligible, using the Three-Year Special 457(b) Catch-Up.

To use the Age 50+ Catch-Up, a Participant Change Authorization Form should be completed and submitted it to your Benefits Office.

Please work closely with your employees who may be eligible for the Three-Year Special 457(b) Catch-Up. If a participant is within three years prior to the year in which that individual will reach the Plan’s definition of normal retirement age, the participant will need to:

• Calculate the available amount under the Three-Year Special 457(b) Catch-Up in 2018 based on the participant’s prior contributions.
• Complete a Participant Change Authorization Form and Three-Year Special 457(b) Catch-Up Worksheet and return both to you.

Participants who want to increase their current deferrals to the Plan under one of these catch-ups must complete the Participant Change Authorization Form before the first day of the calendar month in which the compensation would be paid or made available.

IRS rules provide that both catch-up options cannot be used in the same tax year. Participants who are eligible for both can use the catch-up option that allows them to contribute the greatest amount in that tax year.

March 9 Webinar About The CalPERS 457 Plan

Please encourage employees to register for the CalPERS Supplemental Income 457 Plan Benefits & Basics webinar Friday, March 9, 2018 at 12 p.m. (Pacific Time). The webinar explains how this pre-tax savings program supplements the CalPERS Pension and covers the Plan’s contribution limits, investment choices and distribution options.

There are two easy ways to register:

• Go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6397387845967577859
  
  
• Or visit gotowebinar.com and join webinar ID: 803-237-443. 

Personal Phone Reviews For Your Employees

Your employees can get answers and help with their CalPERS 457 Plan accounts from experienced registered representatives.*

When they use www.calpers457.checkappointments.com to set an appointment, they will receive a confirmation and reminder by email. Or they can call toll free 1-888-713-8244 weekdays 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. (Pacific Time).

* Information from registered Plan Service Representatives is for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax or investment advice. Local Plan Service Representatives are registered representatives of Voya Financial Advisors, Inc. (member SIPC).