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Retirement Plans and Options

This page will provide employees with the various options available to them for their retirement planning and their future.

Retirement

Employees of the University of West Florida are members of three employer-contributed plans depending on elections made when initially eligible. In addition, there are other ways to financially prepare for the future, and employees should actively participate throughout each phase of their career. Once the time comes that retirement is close at hand, employees should review the Preparing for Retirement & DROP section below.

Defined Benefit vs. Defined Contribution

There was a time when employers offered one kind of retirement plan: a pension plan. You worked for many years for the same employer, and you got a monthly check when you reached retirement age. These days, though, other kinds of retirement plans are being offered as alternatives to traditional ("defined benefit") pension plans. These other retirement plans don't use a formula to determine your retirement benefit. They are often described as "defined contribution plans." So, what's the difference between the two?

Defined benefit plans include traditional retirement plans such as the FRS Pension Plan. Your benefit is "defined" based on a formula that uses factors such as service, age, and pay.

Defined contribution plans include the FRS Investment Plan, as well as 403(b) and 457 plans. What's "defined" are contributions made to this kind of plan, rather than your benefit. Your benefit is based on contributions to your account, as well as your account's investment earnings. Your investment earnings will depend, to a large extent, on how much risk you are willing to take and the fees charged to you by the investment funds.

Voluntary Retirement Plans

The best way to prepare for a more secure financial future is by using all the tools offered to you. Employees (including those in OPS classifications other than Student positions) may contribute via payroll deduction in order to supplement the funds available to them later, during retirement, or to strategically manage taxable income. There are both traditional pre-tax, as well as post-tax Roth options, for two different varieties of voluntary retirement plans at UWF.

Retirement Plan Options

Eligible employees of The University of West Florida will receive employer contributions into one of three plans starting from their first day of employment. The options available to an employee depend upon their position within the classification system at UWF. All plans fall under the larger umbrella of the FRS, the fourth largest public system in the nation.

The Florida Retirement System (FRS) offers two retirement plans for state employees. These are the FRS Pension Plan and the FRS Investment Plan. In addition, the State University System Optional Retirement Plan is an alternative to the FRS plans for Faculty and qualified University Work Force staff employees.

You may also want to visit the MyFRS website, which is a cooperative website of the Department of Management Services and the Florida State Board of Administration. It is part of the MyFRS Financial Guidance Program and offers online planning models and choice tools to help employees eligible for membership in the FRS to choose between the FRS Pension Plan and the FRS Investment Plan. The website also provides access to resources available under both plans and the ability to compare the plan options.

Employees looking to learn more about a specific plan may access the pages for each, or to learn about all of the plans, an Overview brochure is available, courtesy of the FRS. New hires to UWF will also learn about the plans during the New Employee Orientation (NEO) and will communicate their elections (form dependent on classification) to the Human Resources Benefits Team.

FRS Pension Plan
FRS Investment Plan
State University System Optional Retirement Program (SUSORP)
Voluntary Retirement Options
Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP)
Retirement Plan for OPS Employees

Preparing for Retirement

Faculty and staff desiring more information on applying for retirement benefits are encouraged to speak with our Human Resources Benefits Team. In addition, a wealth of information is available online regarding applying for your benefit, what to expect after retirement, and the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP). Please visit our detailed "Preparing for Retirement" page.

Working after Retirement

Educate yourself about the guidelines and requirements for returning to work. The Human Resources Benefits Section is here to assist you with your questions on the requirements of returning to work after you retire from the State of Florida. Reviewing the following documents is highly encouraged if you are considering returning to state employment. For individual discussions and counseling, please reach out to the Human Resources Benefits Team at 850.474.2694 or hr@uwf.edu.