Early retirement plan to be considered by regents

A voluntary early retirement incentive (VERI) proposal is scheduled to be discussed at the March 25-26 WSU Board of Regents meeting on the Tri-Cities campus. If approved, eligible participants of the WSU Retirement Plan (WSURP), of which TIAA-CREF is the vendor, would be granted a one-time cash incentive if they retire before Aug. 15, 2010.

This incentive should not be confused with the voluntary retirement incentive program (VRIP) that is being offered to eligible active participants of a retirement plan administered by the state Department of Retirement Systems (DRS). The VRIP was approved by the regents in January, following approval by the state Office of Financial Management.

If approved by the regents, VERI would be available to eligible WSURP participants, typically administrative professional employees and faculty. They would be able to apply April 1-June 30.

Incentive
Eligible employees would receive from WSU a one-time cash payment of $23, 270, which could yield approximately $18,000 of after-tax benefit. The actual benefit will vary based upon the tax status of the retiring employee. Employees who wish to participate are strongly encouraged to consult their tax adviser to determine tax implications.

WSU offers two voluntary investment plans into which an employee may contribute all or part of the cash payment. These plans allow employees to defer taxes on additional retirement savings.

For more information about these plans, visit http://hrs.wsu.edu/Voluntary Investment Plans.
 
Eligibility basics
If VERI is approved, to be eligible to apply for the incentive, an employee must:
• Have been a member of the WSURP for at least 10 years.
• Be 55 years of age or older before the effective date of retirement.
• Begin receiving a retirement payment as a result of retirement if under age 62.
• Separate from WSU service no later than Aug. 15, 2010.

More Information
Pending VERI approval, WSU Human Resource Services (HRS) will present information seminars on the Pullman campus, and via AMS videoconferencing. At that time, HRS also will have information available on the webpage at www.hrs.wsu.edu/veri , including FAQs, a retirement checklist and an archive of VERI communications.