Employer Update

Mark your calendars! America Saves Week is February 22-26. This is a great time to focus on the importance of saving successfully for the future. America Saves Week is a national call to action that encourages people “to do a ‘gut-check’ on their finances and savings behaviors.”

Each day of the week focuses on a different theme:

• Monday, February 22 – Save Automatically
• Tuesday, February 23 – Save for the Unexpected
• Wednesday, February 24 – Save to Retire
• Thursday, February 25 – Save by Reducing Debt
• Friday, February 26 – Save as a Family

The amount of funds needed in retirement depends on many factors including health care, living expenses and lifestyle goals. Saving early – and making it automatic through a payroll deduction – can go a long way toward meeting those goals.

Plans such as the Commonwealth of Virginia 457 Deferred Compensation Plan, a 403(b) plan or another supplemental savings plan you may offer have advantages for employees as they prepare for the future.

The Hybrid 457 Deferred Compensation Plan also provides additional pre-tax retirement savings opportunities for Hybrid Retirement Plan employees, especially when they maximize voluntary contributions and receive an employer match.

The Hybrid Plan Learning Channel features short videos about key plan components that you can share with employees.

Visit americasavesweek.org to sign up and access the digital toolkit for additional ideas on how to promote savings among employees.

Encourage Hybrid Retirement Plan Members to Take the ‘SmartStep’

The SmartStep feature helps hybrid plan members save more for retirement with automatic, annual increases to their voluntary contributions.

How it works: The member chooses an annual increase amount and which month the increase will occur: January, April, July or October. The member’s voluntary contribution will increase each year until it reaches the maximum 4%.

How to take the SmartStep: Members should log into Account Access and select their Hybrid 457 plan account. From the Contributions page, the member will enter an amount for SmartStep. Members also can use the Hybrid Member Paycheck Calculator to see the impact of contributions and other deductions on their paychecks.

Remind Employees to Maximize Their 457 Contributions This Year

Now is a good time to remind your Commonwealth of Virginia 457 Deferred Compensation Plan participants and hybrid plan members to increase their contribution amounts to build up their retirement savings.

The annual limit includes any voluntary contributions hybrid plan members make to the Hybrid 457 Plan and another supplemental 457 plan, such as the Commonwealth 457 Plan. Any Roth after-tax or pre-tax contributions also count toward the limit.

Once the limit is reached, all contributions should stop in payroll, including the hybrid plan voluntary contribution and corresponding employer match if the limit is reached before the end of the calendar year.

myVRS Financial Wellness Offers Tools, Support and Strategies

Self-paced and easy to use, myVRS Financial Wellness includes articles, videos, calculators, educational games, budgeting tools, webinars and mini-courses, all designed to help users grow their knowledge and confidence in everyday financial decision-making. This is a great place for members to start their savings journey. They can get a holistic view of personal finance with this award-winning program.

Promote myVRS and myVRS Financial Wellness: Take advantage of ready-made materials in our myVRS toolkit.