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

Enroll online at any time at NetBenefits.com/MCPS, or by calling the Fidelity Retirement Benefits Line at 800-343-0860.

Through automatic payroll deductions, you may contribute up to 100% of your eligible compensation as pretax contributions. Sign up online by accessing the “Contribution Amount” section under “Quick Links” on NetBenefits^®, or by calling the Fidelity Retirement Benefits Line at 800-343-0860.

In addition, you can automatically increase your retirement savings plan contributions each year through the Annual Increase Program. This program increases your contributions % annually, to help to ensure continued progress toward meeting your future goals. You can opt out of the Annual Increase Program at any time online, or by calling the Fidelity Retirement Benefits Line at 800-343-0860.

Permanent employees may contribute either a dollar amount or a percentage. Temporary employees or substitutes may only contribute a percentage. You may change your contribution amount at anytime.

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.

Participants under age 50 can contribute $23,500 per plan in 2025. The combined limit for employee and employer contributions is $70,000.

You are always 100% vested in your own contributions to the MCPS 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 MCPS 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 Montgomery County Public Schools.

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.

Although your plan account is intended for the future, you may borrow from your account for any reason. Generally, plan rules allow you to borrow up to 50% of your vested account balance.

The minimum loan amount is $1,000, and a loan must not exceed $50,000. Any outstanding loan balances from the previous 12 months may reduce the amount you have available to borrow. You then pay the money back into your account, plus interest, through ACH deductions from your bank account.

You may have two loans outstanding at a time. The cost to initiate a loan is $75. The initiation fee is deducted directly from your plan account.

Note: If you fail to repay your loan (based on the original terms of the loan), it will be considered in "default" and treated as a distribution, making it subject to income tax and possibly to a 10% early withdrawal tax penalty. If you default on a loan, you will not be able to request additional loans.

Learn more about and/or request a loan online, or by calling the Fidelity Retirement Benefits Line at 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.

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

You are permitted to roll over eligible pretax contributions from another 401(a) or a 403(b) plan account, a former MCPS vendor's plan or eligible pretax 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 800-343-0860.

If you wish to consolidate your account assets into your MCPS 403(b) Plan, please be sure to complete the Transfer/Rollover form at the back of this brochure and return it to Fidelity Investments. For any questions on completing the Transfer/Rollover form, please contact the Fidelity Retirement Benefits Line at 800-343-0860, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to midnight, Eastern time.

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.