IRS Limits for Retirement Plans

 
The following information is provided as an outline to the IRS Limits that apply to the MSU retirement plans.

• 403(b) Base Retirement Program Contribution Limits
• 403(b) Supplemental Retirement Program Contribution Limits
• 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan Contribution Limits

Points To Consider

Type of Deferral
Employees may elect to defer a percentage of their pay every pay period.  Deferrals continue unless an employee elects to cancel or change the deferral percentage, or the employee reaches their IRS limit.

• With a percent of pay, the actual dollar amount deferred may vary pay period to pay period, if there is a change in base pay.  If a pay increase occurs, your deferral will increase.
• If you would like help in converting a dollar amount into a retirement contribution percentage, please see our online percentage calculators to help you through the process.

Frequency of Pay Cycles
The number of pay cycles available in the year varies.

• Bi-weekly paid employees have 26 pay cycles in a calendar year.
• Monthly paid employees (with the exception of AY Faculty) have 12 pay cycles in a calendar year.
• Academic Year (AY) Faculty have 10 pay cycles in a calendar year.  No pay is received in the months of June and July.

Salary Limits
Some employee's limits will be impacted by their salary. Once the salary limit is reached, no contributions will be allowed into the 403(b) plan.  Employees should calculate how to make their contributions prior to reaching the earnings limit.

403(b) - Employees who earn over $250,000, and were hired on or after 1/1/96, will have their 403(b) plan deferrals stopped when reaching the earnings limit.