The Retirement Plan Is A 401(A) Defined Contribution Account Balance Plan

This means that your benefits are defined by the amount contributed to your accounts during your Y career, plus the interest credited to these accounts. On this page, you will learn about your eligibility to participate in the Retirement Plan and how contributions to the Plan work.

Eligibility

Before you can be enrolled in the Retirement Plan, you must meet certain age and service requirements.

Plan Contributions

Contributions to the Plan are based on your salary. Your Y chooses a total contribution rate of 12%, 11%, 10%, 9%, or 8%. Within that contribution rate, your Y also determines whether they will require you to save in the Plan.

How Contributions Work

Suppose your Y has chosen a 12% contribution rate and your paycheck is $2,500. If your Y makes the entire contribution, $300 will be sent to your YMCA Account after every payroll.

If your Y has chosen to pay 7% and requires you to pay 5%, your Y will send $175 to your YMCA Account and $125 will be deducted from your paycheck for your Personal Account.

Contribution Rate = 12%
Your Paycheck = $2,500		 When Your Y
Pays All		 When You
Pay Some
YMCA Account Contribution $300 $175
Personal Account Contribution $0 $125
Total Contribution Each Payroll $300 $300
Tax Issues

Contributions made to your YMCA Account, and the interest credited to that account, are not taxed until you make a withdrawal from your accounts.

If your Y requires you to make contributions to your Personal Account, your contributions have already been taxed. Because your contributions are after-tax, only the interest credited to those contribu­tions is taxed when you make a withdrawal.

Applying For Retirement Benefits

Participants can retire and begin receiving an annuity as early as age 55, regardless of their length of service, providing that their account balance in a plan is $5,000 or more.

Participants can get an annuity estimate online for any planned retirement age by logging on to the website with their username and password and using the Annuity Estimate Calculator .

When a participant is ready to retire, they must contact the Fund 60-90 days prior to their desired annuity start date to request the annuity documents. Please advise the participant to read all the information carefully, complete and have the forms notarized where required, and send back to the Fund on a timely basis.

Disability Retirement

The Fund offers retirement benefits if a participant is totally and permanently physically or mentally incapacitated for the performance of duty and cannot engage in any gainful employment.

To qualify for a disability annuity, a participant must:

  • Have had contributions made to their basic account every month for at least five years and be under age 60,
  • Have become disabled while they worked for a participating Y,
  • Have not withdrawn their basic accounts since leaving a Y,
  • Contact the Fund within six months after terminating Y employment for the necessary forms, and
  • Be approved by the Fund’s disability claims administrator