You are eligible for the VRS Hybrid Retirement Plan if your membership date is on or after January 1, 2014, and you are:

• A full-time permanent, salaried state employee.
• A faculty member of a Virginia public college or university, excluding those eligible for hazardous duty benefits.
• A full-time permanent, salaried teacher or administrative employee of a Virginia public school division.
• A full-time permanent, salaried employee of a VRS-participating political subdivision (city, county, town, authority, commission), excluding those eligible for hazardous duty benefits.
• A local law enforcement officer, firefighter or emergency medical technician whose employer does not provide enhanced hazardous duty benefits or the hazardous duty alternate option.
• A judge appointed or elected to an original term on or after January 1, 2014.
• An employee who elected the Hybrid Retirement Plan instead of an optional retirement plan (ORP) authorized or administered by VRS.

Enrollment in the VRS DCP is automatic upon employment in a covered position.

The Hybrid Retirement Plan is funded through contributions both you and your employer make to the defined benefit and the defined contribution components of the plan.

Exploring Your Hybrid Plan

Learn how mandatory and voluntary contributions fund your retirement and how to take advantage of your employer’s match.

Defined Benefit Component

You contribute a mandatory 4% of creditable compensation each month to your defined benefit member contribution account on a pretax basis. Your employer makes a separate contribution to your defined benefit component based on the payroll of all covered employees. The VRS plan actuary determines the rate your employer pays based on several factors.

Note: The Code of Virginia does not allow VRS members to borrow or withdraw funds from their defined benefit member contribution account. You can take a refund of your member contribution account when you leave covered employment.

Defined Contribution Component

The DCP component of your Hybrid Retirement Plan is funded through contributions both you and your employer make.

Employee Contributions*:

• You contribute a mandatory 1% of your creditable compensation each month to your 401(a) account.
• You can accumulate extra voluntary contributions on a tax-deferred basis to your 457 account up to an additional 4% of your creditable compensation.
• Your mandatory and voluntary contributions are always 100% vested.

Employer Contributions:

• Your employer must match the first 1% of your voluntary contribution with a corresponding contribution of 1% of your creditable compensation. Each of your additional 0.5% increases will be matched by your employer with a 0.25% contribution.
• Your employer contributions vest as follows:
  • 1 year-0%
  • 2 years-50%
  • 3 years-75% 
  • 4 years – 100%

More information about how to contribute to your Hybrid Retirement Plan can be found in the Plan Features and Highlights Guide. For details on how the contributions for the Hybrid Retirement Plan defined benefit portion work with your contributions to the defined contribution portion view the Hybrid Retirement Plan Contribution Illustration.

*Plan contributions and catch-up contributions, if applicable, are subject to annual IRS contribution limits.

SmartStep to 4%

Save more by making small annual increases to your voluntary contributions. If you cannot save 4% now for the full 2.5% match from your employer, small increases will help you reach 4% gradually, with less impact on your paycheck. Learn more about this feature.

Learn more about the SmartStep feature for the Hybrid Retirement Plan here or log in to your DCP Account at varetire.org/dcp to choose SmartStep now.

*Plan contributions and catch-up contributions, if applicable, are subject to annual IRS contribution limits. 

The plan offers a variety of investment options—from pre-mixed target date portfolios to a menu of options across asset classes—to construct your investment portfolio.  If you do not make investment elections, your account will be automatically invested in an age-appropriate target date portfolio.

Additionally, the plan offers a Self-Directed Brokerage Account (SDBA) through Charles Schwab. Publicly traded mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and individual securities are offered through the SDBA. You must have an initial balance of $3,500 in the core funds account to open the SDBA and then maintain a $2,500 balance in those funds after the SDBA is opened. The minimum transfer amount into the SDBA is $1,000.

Investment options are available online or by calling toll-free 877-327-5261. If you have any questions about your brokerage account, please contact Charles Schwab at 888-393-7272, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 7:30 pm, excluding market holidays. Please consider the investment objectives, risks, fees and expenses carefully before investing.

Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. and Voya Financial are not affiliated and are not responsible for the products and services provided by the other. Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account® (PCRA) is offered through Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Member SIPC), the registered broker/dealer, which also provides other brokerage and custody services to its customers.

You may withdraw from your account only when you meet one of these conditions:

• Terminate employment from the employer that offers the plan, and your current employer does not offer this plan. You must also meet the break-in-service requirement of one full calendar month. 
• Use your plan account to purchase VRS service credit, if approved.
• Experience an unforeseeable emergency that is approved by the Plan Administrator.
• Reach age 70½, even if still employed.
• Rolled funds from another retirement plan into your Commonwealth of Virginia 457 Plan account.
• Rolled pre-tax dollars from your account into a Roth account.

To be eligible for tax-free withdrawals from a Roth account, the account must have been open for at least five years and you must be age 59½ or older or disabled. In addition, the rules governing distribution provisions in this plan may be different from the distribution provision rules from which rollover money originated. The plan withholding rules for distributions may apply to rollover money from other plans.

Your beneficiary is the person (or persons or entities such as a trust or estate) who will receive your account value in the event of your death. It’s important to have the right beneficiary listed and to occasionally review your choice, particularly after major life events such as marriage, the birth of a child or a divorce. Members can designate a beneficiary at any time while they are an active, deferred or retired member.

Note: Members must complete two beneficiary forms: one for the defined benefit component and one for the defined contribution component of their plan.  Log in to your DCP Account at dcp.varetire.org/login  and select Personal Information > Beneficiary Information. Register or log in to your myVRS account at myvrs.varetire.org to name or update beneficiaries for your defined benefit component and VRS Group Life and Optional Life Insurance, if you are eligible.
 

Account statements generate quarterly and post to your online account and Voya Retire® mobile app. You will receive an email to let you know it’s available. If you elected to receive communication via U.S. mail or do not have an email on file, you will receive your quarterly statements via U.S. mail.

You can access your account statements at any time by logging in to your DCP Account at dcp.varetire.org/login and selecting Statements and Documents. You can also view them in the way that makes the most sense to you. Enter a specific date range and generate a statement view for that period, selecting the information you would like to see on the statement. 

Also, any time you make a transaction, either through the website, the Voya Retire mobile app or the Voya customer service center, a confirmation statement is generated and posted to your online account/Voya Retire mobile app. If you elected to receive communication via U.S. mail or do not have an email on file, you will receive your confirmation via U.S. mail.

The following expenses are associated with participating in the plan:

• Annual plan administration fee: Voya will deduct an annual per participant fee of $35.50 ($2.96 deducted monthly for 11 months, then $2.94 deducted in the last month). This is the total fee for Voya’s record-keeping services and the cost of plan administration. If you participate in more than one Commonwealth of Virginia plan, you will pay only one annual record-keeping fee of $35.50.
• Investment management fees and other fund expenses: These fees cover a fund’s management and operations, including advisory, trading, custody and accounting activities. Investment management and other fund expenses are deducted from each fund’s investment return. 
• Expedited check delivery fee: A fee of $50 will be charged for any expedited check delivery.
• Financial planning services fee: A fee of $175 will be charged for each financial plan analysis. Get more information at dcp.varetire.org/education/financial-planning.
• Advisory services fee: Enrolling in the Professional Management program incurs an extra yearly fee up to 0.40%, depending on your account balance. Get more information at dcp.varetire.org/education/advisory-services.

You do not have to take your money out of the VRS DCP when you retire or terminate employment. You can leave your money in the plan until you are age 73, when you are required to take minimum distributions. Keeping your money in your VRS DCP may provide you with potentially more cost-effective retirement opportunities than rolling your money into a traditional IRA.

Why keep your assets in the plan? Take time to learn about your options in the Leaving Employment Guide.

Distribution Options

The VRS DCP offers a variety of distribution options to suit your needs. Most distribution options can be changed at any time and include the following:

• Full lump-sum distribution. 
• Partial lump-sum distribution. 
• Periodic payments (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually).
• Partial lump-sum distribution and periodic payments.
• Roth installment distribution.
• Rollover into an eligible retirement plan such as a 401(a), 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), traditional IRA or Federal Employees Thrift Savings Plan that accepts such rollovers.
• Annuitization (Contact MetLife at 866-438-6477, or an alternative provider, to arrange for the purchase of annuity. Please consult with a financial advisor and tax professional to see if an annuity is right for you.)

Note: If you have money in the Self-Directed Brokerage Account (SDBA) or Virginia Retirement System Investment Portfolio (VRSIP), you must move the monies to a core investment fund prior to your withdrawal request. If you do not do this, your distribution will be processed from the amount that is available in the core investment funds in excess of the core minimum.

To be eligible for tax-free withdrawals from a Roth account, the account must have been open for at least five years and you must be age 59½ or older or disabled.

The rules governing distribution provisions in this plan may be different from the distribution provision rules from which rollover money originated. The plan withholding rules for distributions may apply to rollover money from other plans.