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

You must be enrolled in the James Madison University 403(b) Plan #83713 in order to enroll in the James Madison University Cash Match 401(a) Plan #72168.

If you're ready to get started, enrolling is easy.
1. Enroll in the Plan(s) via online enrollment. From the www.netbenefits.com/jmu home page, click the link to Enroll. Have your personal information ready (SSN, address, dob).
2. Once linked to Fidelity’s online enrollment website, select both plans (83713 and 72168) to enroll in if you do not have the Cash Match with any other provider.
3. Once the appropriate plan(s) are selected, click Enroll Now and simply follow the prompts.
4. You will be notified when you have completed your enrollment in the plan(s).
5. Confirm your enrollment by reviewing a summary of the information you provided; revise any information if necessary.
6. Accept the data once it is all correct.
7. Print the confirmation and keep it for your records.
8. Complete any necessary forms.
9. If you participate in the 403(b) plan, you must complete and submit a Salary Reduction Agreement form for your enrollment application to be processed. You can obtain the Salary Reduction Agreement from JMU.edu/humanresources. Return the completed agreement to your Benefits Office at MSC7009 (or fax to 540-568-7916).

Your enrollment becomes effective once you elect a deferral percentage, which initiates deduction of your contributions from your pay. 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 may contribute up to 100% of your eligible pay as pretax, Roth, or a combination of the two, up to the annual IRS dollar limits. Combined, your total contribution cannot exceed 100% of your eligible compensation.

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 may contribute between 1% and 100% of your eligible compensation as designated Roth contributions, up to the annual IRS dollar limits.

Find more information online within the "Plan & Learn" drop down and "Learn" section of NetBenefits^®.

As long as you have reached or will reach age 50 by year end and are making the maximum plan or IRS contribution, you may make an additional catch-up contribution each pay period. 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 lifetime 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. Please note, in order to receive the maximum benefit from the age 50 and lifetime catch-up contributions, the lifetime catch-up limit for a calendar year ($3,000) must be used before the Age 50+ Catch-up is applied. Please consult your tax advisor for additional information.

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

You are always 100% vested in your own contributions to the James Madison University 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 many 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 James Madison University 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 Fidelity Freedom^® Fund Class K 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 James Madison 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 K. More information about the Fidelity Freedom^® Fund Class K 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.

Fidelity’s online planning tools are designed to help you manage your assets as you plan for retirement.

Loans are not available in this Plan.

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

Learn more about and/or request a withdrawal online, or by calling the Fidelity Retirement Benefits Line at 1-800-343-0860.

You are permitted to roll over eligible pretax and after-tax contributions from another 401(k) plan, Roth 401(k) plan, 401(a) plan, 403(b) plan, Roth 403(b) plan, a governmental 457(b) retirement plan, or a Roth 457(b) retirement plan account or eligible pretax contributions from another 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.

Additional information can be obtained online, or by calling the Fidelity Retirement Benefits Line at 1-800-343-0860.

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.

Learn about exchanges, withdrawals, and more online. In particular, you can access a withdrawal modeling tool, which shows the amount of federal income taxes and early withdrawal penalties you might pay, along with the amount of earnings you could potentially lose by taking a withdrawal. Additional information can be obtained by calling the Fidelity Retirement Benefits Line at 1-800-343-0860.