Human Resources

To be eligible to participate in the plan, an employee must be:

• A 100% full-time equivalent (FTE) academic or professional staff employee, (grade 16 and above), hired in an appointed position between January 1, 1989 and June 30, 1999; and
• A participant in the IU Retirement Plan at the 12% contribution level.

The following individuals are prohibited from participating in the Plan:

• Geological Survey Department employees
• Employees associated with an external agency agreement that does not accept early retirement plan participation

Termination of Participation

At age 54 or younger, you are no longer eligible to participate in the plan if:

• You terminate employment with the university; or
• You no longer satisfy the eligibility requirements for participation in the IU Retirement Plan at the 12% contribution level.

If you become ineligible to participate in the plan and are age 54 or younger, your entire plan benefit will be forfeited.

Restricted Participation

At age 55 or older, you are no longer eligible to receive an allocation of plan contributions if you cease to be a member of an eligible class of employees.

If you become ineligible to receive an allocation of plan contributions and are age 55 or older, contributions will stop being made to the plan with your last paycheck attributable to employment in an eligible class of employees.

Eligible employees are automatically enrolled in the plan, but must setup their plan account, choose investments, and designate beneficiaries by following these step-by-step enrollment instructions. For assistance with any of these processes, contact Fidelity at 877-343-0860.

Each pay period, Indiana University contributes an amount equal to 2.4% of the participant’s budgeted base salary. “Budgeted base salary” does not include any summer pay or supplemental pay.

The calendar-year limit on total contributions is the lesser of 100 percent of your compensation or $66,000 for 2023 / $69,000 for 2024.

Indiana University makes all contributions to the plan. No contributions are made while the participant is on an unpaid leave of absence. Employees are not permitted to contribute to the plan.

Vesting

To become 100% vested, you must terminate employment with the university, and:

1. Attain age 55 while in active employment status with the university (or, if later, the date you have completed 9 months of active employment with the university following an unpaid leave of absence); or
2. Attain age 55 while disabled, provided that the your disability was continuous from your last day in active employment status with the university to the participant’s attainment of age 55. “Disabled” or “disability” means the Social Security Administration has awarded you disability.

In the event of a participant's death, the participant will become 100% vested if he or she had at least 10 years of full-time service with Indiana University.

Forfeiture

A non-vested participant will forfeit their plan account upon the earlier of:

1. Termination of employment with the university, provided the participant is not disabled;
2. The date the participant no longer satisfies the eligibility requirements for participation in the IU Retirement Plan 12% contribution level because of a voluntary job transfer within the university; or
3. For a participant who was disabled as of their date of termination of employment, the date the participant attains age 55 while not actively employed with the university if the participant’s disability was not continuous from their last day in active employment status with the university to the participant’s attainment of age 55.

This is a “participant directed plan” meaning you are responsible for directing the investment of your plan account. If you do not select investments, your funds will be invested in the plan’s default investment option – an age-appropriate Vanguard Institutional Target Retirement Date Fund.

• Review the Investment Options available under the plans.
• Learn how to change your investments at any time.

A vested participant may only withdraw funds upon termination of employment with Indiana University. Distributions from IUSERP are allowed for former employees rehired into non-eligible positions if the rehired employee has at least a continuous 30-day break in service from the last day of employment.

Hardship distributions and loans are not permitted from the plan.

All plan contributions stop when your employment with IU ends. Upon termination of employment, you may:

• Leave accumulations in the plan account and continue to manage investments;
• Withdraw all or a portion of vested plan account accumulations (subject to income taxes and/or penalty taxes); or
• Roll over all or a portion of vested plan account accumulations to an eligible retirement plan (e.g., an IRA).

After terminating employment with the university, most transactions related to your plan account are handled directly with the applicable investment company. For more information, review the Benefits After Separation Guide.

Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) at Age 72
Federal law requires participants to begin receiving at least a partial distribution of tax-deferred retirement account funds by April 1 of the calendar year following the year he/she reaches age 72, or upon retirement/separation, whichever is later. Failure to withdraw the RMD annually by the applicable deadline can result in substantial tax penalties.