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

Enroll online at any time, click on the "Enroll-Sign up Now" box in the center of the home page and the system will guide you through the enrollment process. You can also enroll by contacting the Fidelity Retirement Benefits Line at 1-800-343-0860.

Your enrollment becomes effective once you elect a deferral percentage, which initiates deduction of your contributions from your pay. These salary deductions will begin as soon as administratively possible, generally within 1-2 pay periods.

Through automatic payroll deduction, you may contribute up to 80% of your eligible pay on a pretax or after-tax Roth basis up to the annual IRS dollar limits. Employees determined to be highly compensated may have additional limitations. Sign up online by accessing the “Contribution Amount” section under “Quick Links” on NetBenefits^®, or by calling the Fidelity Retirement Benefits Line at 1-800-343-0860.

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^®.

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.

Starting in 2025, the SECURE 2.0 Act increases the limit for you if you have attained age 60, 61, 62, or 63 in a given calendar year. The limit for 2025 is $11,250.

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

If you are determined to be eligible for the employer match, UNE helps your retirement savings grow by matching up to 8% of your pre- and/or post-tax contributions to the plan.

You are eligible for the matching contribution after completing 12 consecutive months of service in higher education in which you have been credited with at least 1,000 hours of service.

You are immediately 100% vested in your own contributions to the UNE Retirement Plan, as well as in any of the Employer’s matching contributions and 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 UNE Retirement 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 UNE.

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^® Retirement 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.

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

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 Benefits Line 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 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 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 another contributions from conduit individual retirement accounts (IRAs). 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.