USC provides a variety of investments and resources to faculty and staff to help them meet their retirement goals.
You may be part of the Basic Matched Plan, outlined below, or if you are a hospital employee, the 401(k) Plan. Please review your Workday account for more information regarding eligibility and enrollment for your retirement plan.
The university provides a 5% non-elective employer contribution and matches your pre-tax or Roth contributions up to 5% of your eligible earnings, totaling 10%, if you contribute 5%. You can also make additional supplemental contributions, and your retirement income may include Social Security benefits, as USC employment is covered by Social Security.
Eligibility
Faculty and staff (at least 21 years of age) can enroll in the basic retirement plan and start contributing, with USC matching contributions starting in the payroll cycle after one year of employment, regardless of hours worked. Benefits will notify you via email and Workday about 30 days before your eligibility begins. While you choose the percentage of your eligible earnings to contribute, USC will match it, and even if you choose not to contribute, the university will still make a 5% non-elective contribution.
Note: You may begin making contributions to the supplemental retirement plan as soon as you become a university employee.
Vesting
For employees hired on or after January 1, 2012, the USC non-elective contribution follows a four-year graded vesting schedule, earning 25% ownership per credited year of service. A year of vesting credit is granted for each calendar year with at least 1,000 hours of service. The USC matching contribution, which matches 1–5% of your contribution, is always 100% vested and meets IRS 401(m) “safe harbor” criteria. Employees hired before January 1, 2012, have immediate vesting of all contributions.
| You | USC Match 100% Vested | USC Non-Elective* | USC Total | Grand Total (You+USC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | 5% | 5% | 10% | 15% |
| 4% | 4% | 5% | 9% | 13% |
| 3% | 3% | 5% | 8% | 11% |
| 2% | 2% | 5% | 7% | 9% |
| 1% | 1% | 5% | 6% | 7% |
| 0% | 0% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
Investments
Contributions are invested by your choice of investment providers from the selection offered by the university to manage the investment of the retirement plan contributions. Each provider offers a wide variety of investment options:
- Fidelity Investments | www.netbenefits.com/usc.rsp
Contact: 800-343-0860 | Investments: Fidelity Investments - TIAA | www.tiaa.org/usc
Contact: 800-842-2252 | Investments: TIAA - Vanguard | www.vanguard.com/retirementplans
Contact: 800-523-1188 | Investments: Vanguard
Compare our investment providers
Changing elections
You can change your contribution level, investment funds, and provider at any time without waiting for open enrollment, and transfers between providers and funds are allowed, subject to certain limitations. You can choose to contribute pre-tax for an immediate tax benefit or as after-tax Roth contributions for future tax benefits, provided you meet withdrawal criteria. If you don’t enroll before becoming eligible, a default retirement account will be set up for you, with contributions allocated to specific Vanguard retirement funds, but you can change this setup at any time starting with the next pay period.
Accessing your retirement savings
You can leave your money in the USC retirement plans after you leave the university, and you don’t have to withdraw funds until age 73, as required by the IRS. While you are employed at USC, you are not required to take minimum distributions, but after termination, USC will direct the provider to distribute the required amount from your 401(a) account. If you want to cash out or roll over your USC retirement accounts, work with your retirement provider..
In some cases, funds may be accessed early – see our In-service distributions page for details.
Plan documents
401(a)/403(b)
Extensive information is available online from each of the participating investment providers. In addition, you can make an appointment with a retirement counselor from your investment provider to review your asset allocation, determine if you are saving enough to meet your retirement goals, and evaluate your distribution options at retirement. Appointments are available every month by phone or via Zoom. See the Retirement guidance page for details. If you need copies of any of the documents below, contact the HR Service Center.
USC Retirement Savings Program Summary Plan Description
Important Notice about the USC Retirement Savings Program
Authorization to release information
USC Tax Deferred Annuity Plan Summary Annual Report
USC Defined Contribution Retirement Plan Summary Annual Report
Support staff retirement (Pension/Frozen plan) plan documents
401(a)/403(b) – Participant Fee Disclosure Notice
The Participant Fee Disclosure Notice, required by the Department of Labor, was developed to help ensure that participants (and also employees who are not participating or not yet eligible to participate) receive sufficient information regarding their plan and the investment options available to them.
USC has directed TIAA, one of the vendors available under the USC Retirement Savings Program, to collect this data from all of the vendors and present their information in a combined notice. This publication contains information that can help you make informed decisions about any account you may have in the retirement plan and includes:
- Fees and expenses related to plan accounts
- Participant rights under the plan
- Rules related to providing investment direction
- Details about the plan’s investment options, including investment-related fees and restrictions
For most participants, this notice will be provided annually. The most recent disclosures:
If you have any questions regarding this notice, please contact the USC Retirement Administration Office at rpadmin@usc.edu.