Employee Benefits - Retirement Plans
By Gary Shaw
Southwest Preparatory School is a member of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. The mission of TRS is "to deliver retirement and related benefits authorized by law for members and their beneficiaries to prudently invest and manage the assets held in trust for members and beneficiaries in an actuarially sound system administered in accordance with applicable fiduciary principles."
In addition, employees may contribute to a 403 (b) Retirement Savings Plan or a 457 Retirement Savings Plan, or both, when hired.
A 403(b) plan is a tax-advantaged retirement plan available for eligible employees of public schools. Simply put, employee salary deferrals deposited into a 403(b) plan are made before income tax is paid and allowed to grow tax deferred until the money is taxed as income when withdrawn from the plan.
A 457 plan is a retirement plan for state, city, town and government employees. It is an employer-sponsored deferred compensation program. You defer paying taxes on that part of the income you pay into your retirement savings. There is no penalty for withdrawing funds before age 59. However, it is taxable as income at the time of withdrawal.
Please find below links to various forms and information for the employee:
