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Board hears changes to supplemental retirement plans allowing emergency, abuse and terminal-illness distributions
Summary
Staff described amendments to the county’s supplemental retirement (403(b)/457) offerings to allow distributions for federally declared emergencies, certified domestic abuse, and terminal illness, with an effective date and confidentiality notes about provider communications.
A staff member updated the Burke County Board of Education on changes to the supplemental retirement plans offered to employees (403(b) and 457 accounts) to add three distribution options.
The changes, effective Nov. 1, add a provision allowing distributions after a federally declared disaster (with paperwork submitted within 180 days of the event) and a provision permitting distributions for certified domestic-abuse situations and distributions for support of a terminal illness. Staff said participants may withdraw up to $22,000 for a disaster distribution but only if those funds are available in the employee’s account.
Staff stressed that these are supplemental retirement accounts managed by vendors and are separate from the Teacher Retirement System of Georgia. They named providers discussed in the meeting (CoreBridge and a plan administrator described as Arista) and said distribution requests are confidential transactions between employees and the account provider. Staff cautioned employees to weigh long-term retirement impacts before taking distributions and reiterated that the supplemental plan changes do not change the state teacher retirement system.
Board members asked whether such emergency distributions affect state retirement benefits; staff replied they do not affect the Teacher Retirement System of Georgia because these are supplemental accounts.
No formal board action was required; the board accepted the update as information.
