There is no waiting period. You can enroll in the Plan at any time.

Follow the detailed instructions on the "Enroll today" page after this FAQ section to enroll in the Tax-Deferred Annuity Plan.

Your enrollment becomes effective once you complete the VCU TDA/403(b) SRA to elect a deferral dollar amount, which initiates deduction of your contributions from your pay. Complete and return the form to Human Resources. These salary deductions will generally begin with your next pay period after we receive your enrollment information, or as soon as administratively possible.

Through automatic payroll deduction, you can contribute a minimum of $10 per paycheck on a pretax basis but no more than the annual IRS dollar limit, up to the annual IRS dollar limits. The Internal Revenue Code provides that the combined annual limit for total Plan contributions is 100% of your W2 compensation or $70,000, whichever is less.

If you have reached age 50 or will reach 50 during the calendar year January 1 – December 31 and are making the maximum plan or IRS contribution, you may make an additional catch-up contribution each pay period. The maximum annual catch-up contribution is $7,500. Going forward, catch-up contribution limits will be subject to cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) in $500 increments.

If you have 15 years or more of work experience and have contributed less than $5,000 a year, on average, to your retirement savings plan, you may be able to make additional catch-up contributions to your Plan, allowing you to contribute up to a maximum of $3,000 per year, up to a maximum lifetime benefit of $15,000.

The IRS contribution limit for 2025 is $23,500.

You are always 100% vested in your own contributions to the VCU Tax-Deferred Annuity Plan, as well as any earnings on them.

To help you meet your investment goals, the Plan offers you a range of options. You can select a mix of investment options that best suits your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. The 176 investment options available through the Plan include conservative, moderately conservative, and aggressive funds. A complete description of the Plan’s investment options and their performance, as well as planning tools to help you choose an appropriate mix, are available online.

We encourage you to take an active role in the VCU Tax-Deferred Annuity Plan and choose investment options that best suit your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. If you do not select specific investment options in the Plan, your contributions will be invested in the Fidelity Freedom^® Fund - Class K6 with the target retirement date closest to the year you might retire, based on your current age and assuming a retirement age of 65, at the direction of Virginia Commonwealth University.

If no date of birth or an invalid date of birth is on file at Fidelity, your contributions may be invested in the Fidelity Freedom^® Income Fund Class K6. More information about the Fidelity Freedom^® Fund - Class K6 options can be found online.

Target Date Funds are an asset mix of stocks, bonds and other investments that automatically becomes more conservative as the fund approaches its target retirement date and beyond. Principal invested is not guaranteed.

Although your plan account is intended for the future, you may borrow from your account for any reason.

Learn more about and/or request a loan online, or by calling the Fidelity Retirement Service Center at 1-800-343-0860.

Withdrawals from the Plan are generally permitted when you terminate your employment, retire, reach age 59½, become permanently disabled, or have severe financial hardship as defined by your Plan.

You are permitted to roll over eligible pretax contributions from another 401(k) plan, 401(a) plan, 403(b) plan, or a governmental 457(b) retirement plan account, or eligible pretax contributions from conduit Individual Retirement Accounts (rollover IRAs) and certain non-conduit individual retirement accounts (traditional IRAs, Simplified Employee Pension plans, and "SIMPLE" IRA distributions made more than two years from the date you first participated in the SIMPLE IRA). A conduit IRA is one that contains only money rolled over from an employer sponsored retirement plan that has not been mixed with regular IRA contributions.

Be sure to consider all your available options and the applicable fees and features of each before moving your retirement assets.

If you have not already selected your beneficiaries, or if you have experienced a life-changing event such as a marriage, divorce, birth of a child, or a death in the family, it’s time to consider your beneficiary designations. Fidelity’s Online Beneficiaries Service, offers a straightforward, convenient process that takes just minutes. To make your elections, click on the “Profile & Settings” icon in the upper right-hand corner, then select “Beneficiaries” and follow the online instructions.