Savings and Investing
Voluntary Investment Program
Eastern Washington University offers all faculty and staff the option of participating in the Voluntary Investment Programs, in accordance with federal and state regulations.
These accounts allow employees to save additional retirement funds over and above their regular plans (if they are eligible to participate in those plans), including the Department of Retirement System plans (PERS, TRS, LEOFF) or the EWU Retirement Plan (EWURP). Contributions can be made pre-tax to lower today’s taxable income, or a post-tax Roth option where your contributions and earnings can grow tax-free.
Unlike the regular EWURP and DRS retirement plans, EWU does not contribute to these accounts.
The voluntary plans EWU offers are:
- TIAA Voluntary Investment Program (VIP) – a 403b plan
- Washington State Deferred Compensation (DCP)– a 457b plan
Contributions to both of these plans are allowed, up to the maximum levels for both, since they are under two separate IRS codes.
2025 contributions limits are:
- A minimum contribution of $30 a month/$15 a pay period
- Up to $23,500 for all participants, and
- An additional $7500 for those over 50
- These rates are subject to an annual adjustment, and the current limit, as well as references to past limits, can be found on the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) contribution website.
TIAA Investments
Washington State DCP
You can enroll or change contribution amounts for the TIAA 403b at any time by completing the Salary Reduction Enrollment/Change Form and returning it to the Benefits Office.
To enroll or make changes to your Deferred Compensation 457 plan, please go to this site: https://www.drs.wa.gov/plan/dcp/.
Eligibility:
In general, all faculty and staff who are employed half-time or more and whose employment is expected to continue more than six months are eligible to participate in the program provided that, if eligible, they are also currently participating in one of the University-sponsored basic retirement plans.
Minimum Investment:
Participants in the voluntary retirement program must contribute a minimum of $15 per pay period.
IRS Annual Limits:
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations establish certain annual contribution limits under both the University’s 403(b) plans and the State of Washington’s 457 tax deferred investment plans. Such limits are based on the calendar year and may change year-to-year.
VEBA
VEBA is available only to retiring employees who accrue leave and is a tax-free medical expense account funded by the 25% sick leave cash-out at retirement. It can be used by the retiree and eligible dependents to pay medical expenses after retirement, and is operated under rules established in the Internal Revenue Code.
For more information visit their website VEBA.
Guaranteed Education Tuition Program
GET (Guaranteed Education Tuition) is Washington’s 529 prepaid college tuition plan that helps families with young children save for future higher education expenses. The State of Washington guarantees that the value of your account will keep pace with the cost of college tuition, no matter how much it increases in the future (even if it doubles or triples). The earlier you start saving, the greater the opportunity for increased value of your GET account. The value of a GET account is measured in “units,” where 100 units represent the cost of one year of resident, undergraduate tuition and state-mandated fees at the highest priced public university in Washington. Individual units are valued at 1/100th of that cost. Units can be purchased in whole or partial amounts, from one to 500 units per student. GET was established in 1998 to help families save for their child’s future higher education. Since that time, over 157,000 GET accounts have been opened and over 38,000 students have already used their accounts to attend colleges, universities, and technical schools nationwide.
For more information visit their website http://www.get.wa.gov/.
