All newly hired benefits-eligible faculty and staff will be automatically enrolled in the 403(b) Plan. Rice will reduce your gross salary per pay period by 4% on a pretax basis unless you make a change to your deferral election within 35 days of your hire date. Notification of automatic enrollment will be provided to benefits-eligible faculty and staff.

You can make changes to or opt-out of your enrollment at any time. Your enrollment becomes effective once you indicate how much you'd like to contribute, also known as the deferral. You will generally begin to see your contributions deducted from your paycheck in the next pay period following your deferral election, or as soon as administratively possible.

Enroll online at www.Netbenefits.com/Rice, or by calling the Retirement Service Center at 1-800-343-0860.

When you enroll, can choose to which retirement provider(s) and investment options you want your contributions invested. This means, you can choose to direct 100% of your deferral election to one provider or split your deferral election to contribute a portion to each retirement provider. For example, you can elect to direct 50% to Fidelity and the other 50% to TIAA. Or you can elect any other split you prefer as long as the total equals 100%.

You will have online access virtually 24/7 to make changes to your deferral election and retirement savings account.

Through automatic payroll deduction, you may contribute up to 100% of your eligible pay on a pretax and/or Roth basis.

A Roth contribution to your retirement savings plan allows you to make after-tax contributions and take any associated earnings completely tax free at retirement - as long as the distribution is a qualified one. A qualified distribution, in this case, is one that is taken at least five tax years after your first Roth 403(b) contribution and after you have attained age 59½, or become disabled or die. Through automatic payroll deduction, you can contribute a percentage of your eligible pay as designated Roth contributions, up to the annual IRS dollar limits.

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

You are always 100% vested in your own contributions to the William Marsh Rice University Supplemental 403(b) 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 Fidelity and TIAA 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 William Marsh Rice University Supplemental 403(b) 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 Vanguard Target Retirement Fund 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 Rice University.

If no date of birth or an invalid date of birth is on file at Fidelity, your contributions may be invested in the Vanguard Target Retirement Income Fund. More information about the Vanguard Target Retirement Fund 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.

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

Keep in mind that withdrawals are subject to income taxes and possibly to early withdrawal penalties.

For more information, call the Retirement Services Center at 1-800-343-0860.

If you have an account with TIAA, you can call 1-800-842-2252.

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.

If you're not sure about the best option for you, talk to a Fidelity or TIAA representative today. They can explain each option in greater detail so you can make the best choice for your specific needs.

Fidelity: Call 1-800-343-0860 or log in to your account.

TIAA: Call 1-800-842-2252 or log in to your account.

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

Your beneficiary or beneficiaries will inherit your account in the event of your death. You should consider identifying a beneficiary when you enroll in your plan, and updating the information if you experience a life-changing event such as a marriage, divorce, birth of a child, or death in the family.

If you have an account with Fidelity, login to NetBenefits^®, go to 'Profile' in the navigation bar at the top of your NetBenefits^® page and click on the 'Summary tab' and then 'Beneficiaries'.

If you have an account with TIAA, you can update your beneficiaries online at TIAA.org/Rice or call 1-800-842-2252.

You can access your account online or on the phone. Log in online at www.Netbenefits.com/Rice or call the Retirement Service Center at 1-800-343-0860 to speak with a representative or use the automated voice response system.

To access your TIAA account, log in to your TIAA account at www.TIAA.org/Rice. You can also contact TIAA directly at 1-800-842-2252.