Overview of Supplement Retirement
A Supplemental Retirement plan is one in which you can make further deductions to your retirement in addition to what you already contribute to your Basic Retirement plan. Because both the Basic Retirement and Supplemental Retirement are considered voluntary retirement plans, the amount of money you contribute under both plans count towards your IRS allowed maximum limit for the year. So be sure to set up your Basic Retirement plan first before you before you enroll in a Supplemental Retirement plan to determine how much you are allowed to contribute to your Supplemental Retirement.
If you have submitted a Basic Retirement enrollment recently and it has not been processed yet, the changes you made for your Basic Retirement plan will not be reflected in the numbers shown here. Be sure to take into account how your Basic Retirement contribution changes will affect the amount of contributions you can make to your Supplemental Retirement plan.
The total amount you may contribute to your Supplement Retirement is the IRS annual allowed maximum limit minus your annual Basic Retirement Contributions. Once you have reached your annual IRS allowed maximum limit amount, all employee contributions for the year will stop. Because your Basic Retirement contributions are a percentage of your actual pay which may vary, calculated future Basic Retirement contributions can only be a projected estimation of what you would likely contribute for the year. That means the annual total amount you may contribute to your Supplemental Retirement can change throughout the year. That also means that to avoid exceeding the maximum limit before the end of the calendar year, your Supplemental Retirement plan will have to be monitored.
There are two ways to set up your Supplement Retirement plan:
- You can choose the Maximum Contribution Option.
The Benefits Office will calculate how much you can contribute to your Supplemental Retirement and determine an amount to be deducted from your pay so that you will contribute the annual IRS maximum allowed amount by the end of the calendar year. They will monitor your year-to-date contributions for you to ensure you do not reach the limit before the end of the year and make adjustments to your deductions accordingly.
Choose this option if you want to contribute the maximum amount each year and you want the Benefits Office to monitor your contributions for you. - You can set up a defined salary reduction amount to be deducted.
You can specify the exact amount you want deducted from each pay period. But you will have to monitor both your Basic Retirement and Supplemental Retirement year-to-date contributions to watch if it reaches your annual maximum limit and manually make adjustments to your Supplemental Retirement deductions as necessary. Because once your year-to-date retirement contributions reach the maximum allowed limit, both your Basic Retirement and Supplemental Retirement deductions will stop automatically for the year.
Choose this option if you do not want to contribute the annual maximum amount or if you want to contribute to multiple vendors.
After making all your selections, you will get a chance to review everything before submitting the enrollment transaction to the system. Your transaction is not complete until you press the "Submit" button on the Agreement Summary Page.
If you are submitting an enrollment transaction to a retirement vendor in which you have never made contributions before, you will also need to fill out and submit the specific vendor's paper form before your retirement enrollment request will be processed. Refer to the Office of Benefits Administration for further details.
Upon submitting an enrollment transaction to your Supplemental Retirement, it will remain on hold pending approval of your request. You may not submit another request until your first request has been processed. If you need to cancel your enrollment submission before it has been processed, contact the Benefits Office.
Once your new plan starts, it will remain in effect continuously until you submit a new Supplemental Retirement plan.
For more information on the USC Retirement Savings Program, see the Benefits Administration Office.
Enrollment & Transaction Selection Page
Upon selecting Supplemental Retirement Enrollment on eTrac, you need to select the type of enrollment and transaction you want to make. The options available to you depend on the time of year and whether or not you are currently enrolled in a plan.
Instructions
- Select an Enrollment Type:
- If you want to make an enrollment transaction to start next year, select "Open Enrollment". This option is available only during the Benefits Open Enrollment period.
- If you want to make an enrollment transaction to take effective upon the next scheduled effective date for the current year, select "Regular Enrollment".
- Select a Transaction Type:
- If you do not have an active Supplemental Retirement plan, select "New Enrollment".
- If you have an active Supplemental Retirement plan and want to change the amount of contributions and/or the vendor, select "Change".
- If you have an active Supplemental Retirement plan and want stop all contributions to it, select "End".
- Click on the "Submit" button to continue.
If you are starting a new enrollment or changing an existing one, you will go to the Maximum Allowed Page.
If you are ending an existing plan, you will go to the Agreement Summary Page.
Employee Information Section
The top section of this page displays your basic Employee information and it is repeated on every page. If any of this information is incorrect, contact your Home Department Coordinator to update your data.
| Employee ID | This is your 7-digit USC Employee ID # and you use it to access all your employee/payroll records. Your Employee ID is printed on your pay stub or advice slip. | |
| Employee Name | This is the name as how it appears on your record in the system. If it needs to be corrected, contact your Home Department Coordinator. | |
| Employee SSN | This is your Social Security #. For your protection, only the last 4 digits of your SSN are displayed. | |
| USC ID | This is your 10-digit USC ID number. | |
| Employee Street Address, City, State, Zip | This is your home mailing address. You can update this from the Personal Information Update Page on eTrac. | |
| Home Department | This is the name of your home department. | |
| Home Department Coordinator | This is the name of the person to contact regarding your personnel file. | |
| Employee Status | This is your current employee status at USC. | |
| Employee e-mail | This is your USC e-mail contact. Since everything you do on the eTrac system sends you a confirmation notice via e-mail, make sure it's correct. | |
| Employee Pay Frequency | This field shows your pay frequency; either monthly or bi-weekly. | |
| Employee Pay Option | This field shows the number of months to be paid in a year. |
Enrollment & Transaction Selection
| Enrollment Type | Select an Enrollment type:
| |
| Transaction Type | Select a Transaction Type:
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Action Buttons
The following buttons appear near the bottom of the page:
| Submit | After selecting the enrollment and transaction types, click on this button to continue to the Maximum Allowed Page. | |
| Back to Benefits Page | To cancel any changes, click this button to return to the Benefits Type Selection Page. | |
| Exit Process | Click on this button to return to the main menu. |
Supplemental Retirement Maximum Allowable Page
There are 2 things you must set on this page: Whether or not you choose the Maximum Contribution Option, and the retirement vendor you want to make your Supplemental Retirement contributions.
Instructions
Review the IRS Limits on your retirement limits and any prior and current plans you have.
Select either "Yes" or "No" to indicate whether or not you choose the Maximum Contribution Option.
Select "Yes" for the retirement vendor where you want want make your Supplemental Retirement contributions.
You do not have to select the same vendor where you make your Basic Retirement contributions.
If you selected "No" for the Maximum Contribution Option, you may select more than one vendor.Click on the "Submit for Confirmation" button.
If you did not select the Maximum Contribution Option, the Salary Reduction Page will load.
If you have selected the Maximum Contribution Option, the Agreement Summary Page will load.
Employee Information Section
Your basic employee information is repeated from the previous page.
IRS Limits
This section displays your IRS retirement deferral limits. If you are starting a plan during Open Enrollment for next year, next year's limits are shown. If you are working on a retirement plan for the current year, this year's limits are shown.
| Calendar Year | This column displays the year of the plan on which you are working. | |
| General Limit | The general limit shown is the base pre-tax amount you are allowed to contribute to your voluntary retirement plans. | |
| 15-Year Special Election | This column shows the additional allowable amount of your 15-year special election, if you are eligible. | |
| Age 50 and Over Addition | This column displays the additional allowable amount if you are at least 50 years of age. | |
| Maximum Limit | The maximum limit shown is the maximum pre-tax amount you are allowed to contribute to your voluntary retirement plans (General + 15-Year + Age 50 Limits). | |
| Suppl Retirement Maximum Limit | This column shows the estimated amount you can contribute to your Supplemental Retirement for the year. This limit is calculated from the your maximum limit minus your projected 5% deduction amount and may change during the year. | |
| Suppl Retirement Agreement | If you have a current Supplemental Retirement plan, this column displays the total amount you planned to contribute to your Supplemental Retirement for the year. | |
| Employee Basic Retirement Limit | This column displays the maximum amount that you can contribute to your Basic Retirement. |
Prior Contributions
The plans listed under "Prior Retirement Plans" show the contributions you've made in the year but you are no longer contributing to them. This section appears only if you have any retirement plans for the year that have ended.
| Prior Plan | This column lists the retirement plan name. | |
| Plan End Date | This column displays the date when the plan ended. | |
| Amount | This column shows the amount you've elected to contribute to the plan. Depending on the type of plan, this could be a dollar amount or a percentage of your Gross Pay. | |
| Year-to-Date Contribution | This column shows the total contributions you've made to each plan. At the bottom of each section, the total amounts are summed up. | |
| * | If a plan counts toward your Maximum allowed voluntary retirement contribution limits, an asterisk (*) appears in this column. You can see the grand total for all contributions marked with an asterisk (*) in the calculation below this section. |
Current Contributions
The plans listed under "Current Retirement Plan Contributions" are the plans you're currently contributing to in the year. This section appears only if you have a current plan.
| Current Plan | This column lists the retirement plan name. | |
| Plan Start Date | This column displays the date when the plan started. | |
| Amount | This column shows the amount you've elected to contribute to the plan. Depending on the type of plan, this could be a dollar amount or a percentage of your Gross Pay. | |
| Year-to-Date Contribution | This column shows the total contributions you've made to each plan. At the bottom of each section, the total amounts are summed up. | |
| * | If a plan counts toward your Maximum allowed voluntary retirement contribution limits, an asterisk (*) appears in this column. You can see the grand total for all contributions marked with an asterisk (*) in the calculation below this section. |
Plan Options
There are 2 options to set here: the Maximum Contribution Option, and the retirement vendor.
| Maximum Contribution Option | If you select "Yes", you are agreeing to allow the Benefits Office to monitor your retirement plans and to adjust your Supplemental Retirement deduction amounts as needed to maximize your voluntary retirement contributions without going over the maximum limit before the end of the year. If you select "No", you must indicate a specific amount to be deducted from your pay (to be done on the Salary Reduction Page). You will have to monitor your retirement plans and manually make necessary adjustments if you do not want to reach the maximum limit before the end of the year. | |
| Fidelity, Prudential, TIAA, Vanguard | Select "Yes" for the vendor where you want to make your Supplemental Retirement contributions. You do not have to select the same vendor where you make your Basic Retirement contributions. If you selected "No" for the Maximum Contribution Option, you may select more than one vendor. |
Action Buttons
The following buttons appear near the bottom of the page:
| Submit for Confirmation | Click on this button to continue. If you did not select the Maximum Contribution Option, the Salary Reduction Page will load. If you have selected the Maximum Contribution Option, the Agreement Summary Page will load. | |
| Back to Enrollment Page | Click on this button to cancel changes and return to the Enrollment Selection page. | |
| Back to Benefits Page | Click on this button to cancel changes and return to the Benefits Selection page. | |
| Exit Process | Click on this button to cancel changes and return to the eTrac menu. |
Supplemental Retirement Salary Reduction Page
This page appears only if you selected to not use the Maximum Contribution Option. You will have to specify an exact amount that you want deducted from each pay period.
Annual contribution totals are displayed and an annual future contributions calucator is available to help you determine how much you can contribute towards your Supplemental Retirement plan.
Review all information carefully when deciding on your retirement contributions. If you reach the annual IRS maximum limit before the end of the calendar year, all deductions (both Basic and Supplemental Retirement plans) will stop for the year. You are advised to monitor your contributions, especially if you do not chose the Maximum Contribution Option.
Instructions
- Review all the information on this page. It contains your:
• IRS Retirement Limits
• prior and current contributions
• Year-to-Date Totals
- Go towards the bottom of the page to the Contribution Agreement section.
- A textbox appears for each vendor you selected from the previous page.
For each vendor, enter a dollar amount that you want deducted from you pay each pay cycle. - Click on the "Calculate Total and Agreement Amounts" button.
- The page will reload with the Total Amount To Be Contributed calculated. This is the total amount that will be deducted in future pay cycles until the end of the calendar year.
- Look at the Supplemental Retirement Agreement Summary section.
If the Total Annual Contribution amount exceeds your maximum allowed Supplenmental Retirement limit, the Remaining Balance Allowed amount will appear in red. If this is the case, reduce your Supplemental Retirment contribution amounts. You can not exceed your Supplemental Retirement limit. - If everything looks good, click on the "Submit for Confirmation" button.
The Agreement Summary Page will load for your review before the final submission. Be sure to click on the "Submit" button located on the Agreement Summary Page to complete your transaction.
Employee Information Section
Your basic employee information is repeated from the previous page.
IRS Limits
This section displays your IRS retirement deferral limits. If you are starting a plan during Open Enrollment for next year, next year's limits are shown. If you are working on a retirement plan for the current year, this year's limits are shown.
| Calendar Year | This column displays the year of the plan on which you are working. | |
| General Limit | The general limit shown is the base pre-tax amount you are allowed to contribute to your voluntary retirement plans. | |
| 15-Year Special Election | This column shows the additional allowable amount of your 15-year special election, if you are eligible. | |
| Age 50 and Over Addition | This column displays the additional allowable amount if you are at least 50 years of age. | |
| Maximum Limit | The maximum limit shown is the maximum pre-tax amount you are allowed to contribute to your voluntary retirement plans (General + 15-Year + Age 50 Limits). | |
| Suppl Retirement Maximum Limit | This column shows the estimated amount you can contribute to your Supplemental Retirement for the year. This limit is calculated from the your maximum limit minus your projected 5% deduction amount and may change during the year. | |
| Suppl Retirement Agreement | If you have a current Supplemental Retirement plan, this column displays the total amount you planned to contribute to your Supplemental Retirement for the year. | |
| Employee Basic Retirement Limit | This column displays the maximum amount that you can contribute to your Basic Retirement. |
Prior Contributions
The plans listed under "Prior Retirement Plans" show the contributions you've made in the year but you are no longer contributing to them. This section appears only if you have any retirement plans for the year that have ended.
| Prior Plan | This column lists the retirement plan name. | |
| Plan End Date | This column displays the date when the plan ended. | |
| Amount | This column shows the amount you've elected to contribute to the plan. Depending on the type of plan, this could be a dollar amount or a percentage of your Gross Pay. | |
| Year-to-Date Contribution | This column shows the total contributions you've made to each plan. At the bottom of each section, the total amounts are summed up. | |
| * | If a plan counts toward your Maximum allowed voluntary retirement contribution limits, an asterisk (*) appears in this column. You can see the grand total for all contributions marked with an asterisk (*) in the calculation below this section. |
Current Contributions
The plans listed under "Current Retirement Plan Contributions" are the plans you're currently contributing to in the year. This section appears only if you have a current plan.
| Current Plan | This column lists the retirement plan name. | |
| Plan Start Date | This column displays the date when the plan started. | |
| Amount | This column shows the amount you've elected to contribute to the plan. Depending on the type of plan, this could be a dollar amount or a percentage of your Gross Pay. | |
| Year-to-Date Contribution | This column shows the total contributions you've made to each plan. At the bottom of each section, the total amounts are summed up. | |
| * | If a plan counts toward your Maximum allowed voluntary retirement contribution limits, an asterisk (*) appears in this column. You can see the grand total for all contributions marked with an asterisk (*) in the calculation below this section. |
Year-to-Date Grand Totals & Annual Estimates
The Year-to-Date Grand Totals section summarizes the total contributions you have made already and plan to make during the year. This series of calcuations shows the remaining Supplemental Retirement limit amount that you are allowed to make for the rest of the year.
| Grand Total for All Contributions | This is the grand total for all contributions listed under the Prior & Current Retirement sections. | |
| Grand Total for IRS Limit Contributions | This is the grant total for all contributions that count towards the IRS Maximum Limit. The total is taken from the plans marked with an asterisk (*) in the Prior & Current Retirement plan sections. | |
| Maximum Limit | This is the maximum amount you can contribute for the year combining contributions you make to your Basic and Supplemental Retirement plans. | |
| Basic Retirement Year-to-Date Contributions | This is the total amount of contributions you've made in the year to your Basic Retirement that count toward the limit. | |
| Estimated Basic Retirement to be Contributed | This is the estimated future Basic Retirement amount that you might be contributing until the end of the year based on your last pay cycle. | |
| Supplemental Retirement Year-to-Date | This is the total Supplement Retirement contribution amount that you have made this year. | |
| Estimated Supplemental Retirement Allowed | This is the estimated remaining amount that you can contribute to your Supplemental Retirement for the year. This is an estimated amount based on the estimated amount you will be contributing to your Basic Retirement. When considering how much you can contribute to your Supplemental Retirement, take into account how your pay might vary throughout the year. Changes in your pay affects your Basic Retirement contribution amounts which affect how much you can contribute to your Supplemental Retirement. |
Contribution Agreement Section
A textbox appears for each vendor you've selected on the Supplemental Retirement Maximum Allowable Page. If you have an existing plan with a selected vendor, the existing plan's amounts are shown.
- Enter an exact dollar amount that you want deducted from your pay each pay cycle, either biweekly or monthly depending on your pay frequency.
- Click on the "" button.
- The page will reload with the amount shown in the Total Amount to be Contributed field.
| Total Biweekly/Monthly Contribution | After calculating the totals, this field will show the total Supplemental Retirement contribution amount that will be deducted from your pay each pay cycle, either biweekly or monthly. | |
| Remaining Deductions for Year | This field shows the remaining number of pay periods in the year that this plan will affect. | |
| Total Amount to be Contributed | After calculating the totals, this field will show your total future contributions made under this plan for the year. This number is the Total Biweekly Contribution amount multipled by the number of Remaining Deductions for the Year. |
| Calculate Total and Agreement Amounts | Click on this button to calculate your Supplemental Retirement contribution totals. |
Agreement Summary Section
This section appears on the page only after you have clicked on the "" button.
Use this section to determine whether or not if your plan would make you go over the limit before the end of the year.
| Supplemental Retirement Maximum Limit | This field shows your maximum allowed Supplement Retirement contributions. | |
| Year-to-Date Contribution | This field shows the total amount you have already contributed to your Supplemental Retirement for the year. | |
| Total Annual Contribution | This field shows the total amount you will contribute to your Supplemental Retirement for the year with this new plan. This amount is the sum of the SR Year-to-Date Contribution and the SR Total Amount to be Contributed amount. | |
| Remaining Balance Allowed | This field shows the remaining Supplemental Retirement amount you can contribute for the year. If this is a negative number appearing in red, then your planned contributions have exceeded the allowed limit. Adjust your vendor contribution amounts and click on the "" button again to calculate the totals. In case your pay changes or if you have a varying pay, be sure to monitor your contributions throught the year to make sure you do not exceed the limit before the end of the year. |
Action Buttons
The following buttons appear near the bottom of the page:
| Submit for Confirmation | Click on this button to generate a summary agreement of your plan for confirmation. You will see the Agreement Summary page. | |
| Back to Enrollment Page | Click on this button to cancel changes and return to the Enrollment Selection page. | |
| Back to Benefits Page | Click on this button to cancel changes and return to the Benefits Selection page. | |
| Exit Process | Click on this button to cancel changes and return to the eTrac menu. |
Agreement Summary Page
The Agreement Summary page displays a summary of your changes and plan details. Please review the information. If everything looks in order, then click on the "Submit to Update" button located near the bottom of the web to submit your plan request. Your request will be forwarded to the Office of Benefits Administration for review. You should also receive an email confirmation regarding your submission, and Benefits Administration will contact you in the near future on the status of your request.
You must click on the "Submit" button located on this Summary Page to complete the transaction.
Instructions
- Review all the plan details.
- Read the Authorization statements carefully. Your submission of this enrollment signifies that you have read through and agree to the conditions of the authorization statements.
- If everything is in order, click on the "Submit to Update" button. You will see the confirmation message page.
If you do not want to make submit the request, click on the "Back to Maximum Allowable Page" button or the "Benefits Selection Page" to make further changes, or click on the "Exit Process" button to return to the eTrac menu.
IRS Limits
Prior Retirement Plans
Current Retirement Plan Contributions
The IRS Limits Information section is repeated on this page. If you have prior and current Supplemental Retirement plans, the Prior Retirement Plan section and the Current Retirement Plan Contributions section are also repeated.
New Supplemental Retirement Plans
If you have selected the Maximum Contribution Option:
The message in this section informs you that you are allowing Benefits to maximize your voluntary contributions by periodically monitoring and calculating your contributions and to adjust your Supplemental Retirement contributions are necessary.
If you have selected to not take the Maximum Contribution Option:
The details of your Supplemental Retirement contribution plan is displayed in this section.
| Description | This column lists the retirement plan name. | |
| Current Amount | If you have a current plan with the selected vendor, this column displays the current contribution amount you have been making under the plan. | |
| New Amount | This column shows the amount you've elected to contribute to the plan. | |
| Revised Agreement Amount | This column displays the future total Supplemental Retirement contribution amount you will be making for the year under each new plan. The total amount for all plans are summed up at the bottom of the column. | |
| Year-to-Date Amount | This column shows the total contributions you have already made to each plan. The total amount for all plans are summed up at the bottom of the column. |
Authorization Statements
Read the Authorization statements. When you click on the final "Submit", you are acknowledging that you have read through them, that you authorize for your salary to be reduced in the manner specified under the Supplement Retirement plans, and that you agree to the conditions set forth in the authorization statements.
Action Buttons
The following buttons appear near the bottom of the page:
| Submit to Update | Click on this button to generate a summary of your plan for confirmation. You will see the Confirmation page. | |
| Back to Salary Reduction Page | Click on this button to cancel changes and return to the Maxiumum Allowable page. | |
| Back to Benefits Page | Click on this button to cancel changes and return to the Benefits Selection page. | |
| Exit Process | Click on this button to cancel changes and return to the eTrac menu. |
Message Page
The message page informs you of your submitted transaction, provides contact information, and displays a summary of your changes and plan details. You will also recieve a confirmation e-mail. When Benefits processes your request, you should receive another email informing you of the approval status.
Instructions
If you are contributing to Supplement Retirement vendor(s) with whom you already have an account(s):
- Print out the message page for your records.
- • If you want to return to the Benefits selection page, click on the "Back to Benefits Page" button.
• If you want to return to the eTrac menu page, click on the "Exit" button.
If you are contributing to a new Supplemental Retirement vendor:
- Print out the message page for your records.
- The message page will list links to the enrollment forms for each of the new vendors to which you planned a contribution amount.
Click on each of the provided links to download the form(s). - Return to the eTrac menu and exit eTrac.
- Print out all the forms.
- Fill out the forms and sign them.
- Turn in the forms to either the Office of Benefits Administration or HSC Personnel Office.
Action Buttons
The following buttons appear near the bottom of the page:
| Back to Benefits Page | Click on this button to go to the Benefits Selection page. | |
| Exit Process | Click on this button to go to the eTrac menu. |