The Feb. 10 Earnings Statement for WSU employees will include a link to the Benefit Services website, where you can find information on the expanded tax-deferred limits for 2004.
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced cost-of-living adjustments for the new tax year. Limits on the amount of tax-deferred savings you can set aside rise with an inflation index as mandated by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. The limits for 2004 are as follows:
The limit on the salary-reduction contributions to your TIAA-CREF supplemental Tax Deferred Investment or 403(b) plan increases from $12,000 to $13,000. The limit on deferrals to the state-sponsored Deferred Compensation Plan or 457(b) plan also increases from $12,000 to $13,000.
The additional amount, called the catch-up contribution, that employees aged 50 or older can contribute to either the TIAA-CREF or DCP plan in 2004 increases from $2,000 to $3,000.
This means that a 9-month employee can shelter up to $722 into each of the 18 pay periods of 2004 to reach $12,996. Those on 12-month appointment can contribute up to $541 into each of their 24 pay periods to reach this goal. Those in both the TDI and DCP plans could shelter $13,000 into each, for a total of $26,000 in 2004.
Employees who would like to see a TIAA-CREF representative in person to learn more about setting up a TDI account, or the many options for investing tax-deferred savings, can schedule an appointment up to a month in advance via their website at http://www.tiaa-cref.org/moc. A representative will be in Pullman Feb. 24-26, March 23-25 and April 27-29.
One way to save more for retirement is to set aside any additional dollars, starting now. Regardless of how much you save, it is important to start (with a minimum of $15 per pay period) and increase the amount whenever you can.
