No, it is not a new type of plan. Designated Roth contributions are a new type of contribution that can be accepted by new or existing 401(k) or 403(b) plans. This feature is permitted under a Code section added by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA), effective for years beginning on or after January 1, 2006.

Basically, the 401(k) is a tax-deferred retirement plan for private sector employees, while the 403(b) is a retirement plan of educational and certain non-profit organizations.

Yes. If you are a client and are actively participating in your company's 401(k), 403(b) or 457 plan, we will provide guidance assisting you to choose among the available funds in your company plan without additional charge. As a quid pro quo, we ask that you consider our firm for asset management when you withdraw your assets from your plan.

Yes. If your employer(s) offer both a 403(b) and a 401(k), you may contribute to both. However, your aggregate contributions may not exceed the elective deferral limit. In 2005, this limits your total contribution to $14,000. If you are age 50 or older at any time during the year, your contribution limit increases to $18,000.

A 401(k) plan is a type of retirement plan offered by an employer under section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. A 403(b) plan is a somewhat different type of retirement plan, which has many of the same features of a 401(k). Since Duke is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization and educational institution we can offer a 403(b) plan.

You can generally move the vested portion of your account from one type of plan to another as long as the new plan accepts rollovers. Your after-tax contributions are only transferable between similar plans (for example, from a 403(b) plan to 403(b) plan), and you must move your money directly between plans.

You can easily roll over all or part of a previous employer's retirement plan to Firstrade. If you wish to open both an accumulation IRA (e.g. Traditional or Roth) and a Rollover IRA, please complete two separate Adoption Agreements. Visit our Forms Download Center for necessary forms.

You may contact Putnam Investments at 1-877-JIB-401K (1-877-542-4015) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to obtain account balance information, to change investment funds, or to request a distribution or loan. Remember to have your PIN number available when you call. You may also obtain your account balance online at www.ibenefitcenter.mercerhrs.com. Yes, and it varies by year in accordance with IRS regulations.

you experience financial hardshipsFor more detailed information refer to IRS Publication 571. You can obtain this document by clicking on IRS Publications and scrolling to Publication 571 Tax Sheltered Annuity Programs.

No. It is up to you as to how much money you would like to contribute to your Health Savings Account or 401(k), subject to each plan's limits. A Savings Maximizer tool will be available in September to help you plan your savings. After you estimate your potential costs, the Savings Maximizer tool can help you consider how much to contribute to your various savings accounts - for example, HSA, limited purpose Health Care FSA, and 401(k).

No, your stocks can be transferred “in-kind”, which means that they will be transferred as is to your new plan. For accounting or audit purposes, you will want to keep track of the in-kind market value at the point of your rollover.

There are several ways to accomplish this. Which one you should choose depends on whether you want to track the cash in association with your paycheck or not. Probably the easiest way is to schedule a deposit to your 401(k) contributions/cash account in the Bills & Deposits section, the amount and date of which correspond to the match.

In order to view your balance, go to our home page and click on "Manage Your Account." Enter your Social Security Number (SSN) (without hyphens) and your Personal Identification Number (PIN). The default PIN Number is the last four digits of your SSN. You may change your User ID and PIN once you have already logged into your account. Send us a fax with a note explaining you need your PIN Reset. Include your full name, SSN, date of birth, phone number and signature.

The government sets the standards as to how much money can be contributed into a 403(b). The maximum amount any individual under the age of 50 can contribute is $14,000 for the 2005 calendar year. Any individual age 50 or older may contribute up to $18,000 for the 2005 calendar year.

The government allows you to take a distribution from the 403(b) plan at age 59 ? without paying any penalties. However, you would still be responsible for paying taxes on the distribution since your salary deferrals were pre-tax.

Legally, all your employer has to give you is a Summary Plan Description, a Summary Annual Report, and an annual statement. You might not receive a prospectus for every fund offered in the plan, but if your company's stock is offered in the plan you are required to receive a prospectus (or prospectus substitute) for that. Luckily for participants, most plan sponsors provide a lot more information than they're required to. Often, if you need more information all you have to do is ask.