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Our BIG announcement for this year's 401(k) Month is we're going to be transferring Reliant's 401(k) plan into a special church (or organization with a 501c3 church status) retirement plan within Principal called a 403(b)(9) plan starting on 1/1/2024. This change is probably the most significant change we've made to our Reliant Retirement Plan since we added a Roth contribution.

Throughout September, which we're re-naming "403(b)(9) Month", we're going to outline and explain this new retirement plan's benefits and features one piece at a time.

In the spirit of this year's Lego construction theme, we understand this news may feel like we just dumped a bag of Legos on a table and told you this is your new retirement plan. You likely have a lot of questions starting primarily with "How does this affect my retirement savings options?" We want to assure you your retirement savings will continue to be in good hands!

The 403(b)(9) plan will be extremely similar to our current 401(k) plan, with a few added perks. See the table below for a side-by-side comparison of key features of our new 403(b)(9) plan vs. the existing 401(k) Plan.

The 403(b)(9) is especially designed for church-based 501(c)(3) non-profit groups and churches. It allows Reliant greater flexibility to customize our retirement plan based on the types of employees we have working for Reliant and their retirement planning needs. 

Please follow along with us this month as we "construct" this new plan and highlight its features. We will also offer some fun prizes along the way! 

Drawing & Prize Info

Fill out this Google Form and we'll enter you in the drawing for a Lego Christmas ornament book and our $100 Amazon Gift Card grand prize. Prizes will be coordinated with the employee based on their specific location/delivery preferences. 


403(b)(9) vs 401(k) Side-by-Side Comparison of key features

Reliant's NEW 403(b)(9) Plan features:

Reliant's existing 401(k) Plan features:

Eligibility:

  • NEW/CHANGE: Reliant employees will be eligible for the 403(b)(9) plan after 3 months of employment

Eligibility:

  • Reliant employees are currently eligible for the 401(k) plan after 1 year of employment 


Auto-Enrollment:

  • NEW/CHANGE: Reliant will be classifying groups of employees differently for purposes of auto-enrollment.
    • Certain employee groups (the Fixed Term Program Team and potentially some other groups) will no longer be auto-enrolled at $50 a month. These employees will still be eligible to contribute to the 403(b)(9) plan at their own discretion.
    • Most other employees will continue to be auto-enrolled at $50 a month when they become eligible for the 403(b)(9) plan. Employees that are auto-enrolled will still be notified and given instructions for how to edit/change/increase their retirement contribution amount anytime on https://www.principal.com/. 

Auto-Enrollment:

  • All Reliant employees were previously auto-enrolled at $50 a month (prior to 9/1/23 when auto-enrollment was paused pending our transfer to the 403(b)(9) plan). Eligible employees can change their contribution amount anytime on https://www.principal.com/). 

Employer Match/Employer Contributions:

  •  NEW/CHANGE: Reliant will be classifying groups of employees differently for purposes of the employer contribution (paid from the MTD account).
    • Certain employee groups (the Fixed term program team and potentially some other groups) will no longer be matched 5% in employer contributions from the MTD account. They will be eligible for a different type of employer contribution that will be determined by their support goal and employment parameters. (More information to come on this contribution). 
    • Most other employees will continue to receive an automatic employer match for their contributions. This match will still be paid out of the MTD account, up to a maximum of 5% of the employee's eligible wages. (Good news...shortcheck will no longer affect their match amount).
    • Reliant will also have the ability to creatively allow additional employer contributions to be made into employee 403(b)(9) accounts, at the discretion of Reliant's management team. This is a new feature and is something Reliant will continue to explore. No immediate plans are in place for utilizing this feature but we are excited to have this feature in our new plan!


Employer Match/Employer Contributions:

  • All Reliant employees currently receive an automatic employer match for their payroll contributions. The match is paid from the MTD account, up to a maximum of 5% of their eligible wages (shortcheck currently affects the match amount)

Roth Contributions:

  • No change. The 403(b)(9) Plan allows employees to make ROTH contributions from their paychecks into the plan just like the 401(k) plan allowed. (Note: Reliant's employer contributions will remain pre-tax.) 
  • For additonal info on Roth see Traditional vs. Roth Contributions.

Roth Contributions:

  • The 401(k) Plan allows employees to make ROTH contributions from their paychecks into the plan. (Note: Reliant's employer contributions are pre-tax contributions.)
  • For additonal info on Roth see Traditional vs. Roth Contributions.

Loans:

  • No change. The 403(b)(9) Plan will allow loans based on the same guidelines: Loans

Loans:

  • Employees are currently eligible for loans based on the following guidelines: Loans

Investments:

  • No change. Reliant will continue to offer the same funds and investment options that we currently offer with Principal Financial Group. 
  • See Investment Optionsfor more information.

Investments:

  • Reliant currently offers a variety of investment options that employees can elect themselves or they can choose the "autopilot" option of a Principal Lifetime fund that is managed by Principal with a diversified mix of investments that tailors risk and investment choices based on the employees retirement age. See Investment Options for more information.

Vesting:

  • No change. Reliant will continue to offer the same 100% vesting of employer contributions to employees upon eligibility into the 403(b)(9) plan.
  • See Vesting Schedule for more information.

Vesting:

  • All Reliant employees are 100% vested from the point they start contributing to the 401(k) Plan. See Vesting Schedule for more information.

Rollovers: 

  • No change. 
  • Upon becoming eligible for the 403(b)(9) Plan, employees will be eligible to roll-in funds from other retirement plans (as long as their old plan rules allow for the rollover). See Rollover Funds to Reliant's 401(k) Plan from a Previous Retirement Plan for more information.
  • Upon exiting employment with Reliant, an employee will be eligible to roll over the funds from their 403(b)(9) plan into an IRA, into another retirement plan (as long as the new plan rules allow for the rollover), cash out their 403(b)(9) plan (certain penalties and taxes may apply for this option), or keep the funds in the 403(b)(9) plan with Principal Financial Group.

Rollovers: 

Withdrawals 

  • No change. 
  • Reliant will still offer regular withdrawals at age 59 1/2 or higher - See Withdrawal (Age 59 1/2 or Higher)
  • Reliant will still offer parsonage withdrawals for commissioned/ordained ministers at age 59 1/2 or higher - See Withdrawal as Parsonage (Age 59 1/2 or Older ) for more information.
  • Note NEW IMPROVEMENT*Parsonage withdrawals will become easier for Reliant and our minister employees due to the 403(b)(9) plan's specific setup that's designed with churches in mind. Under the 403(b)(9) plan, parsonage withdrawals are "built-in" as basic functionality within the plan, vs. the additional steps Reliant currently has had to go through to incorporate this feature into our existing 401(k) plan. 

Withdrawals 

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12 Comments

  1. user-adc6d

    Hi Barb Seckler - do you have the images you've mentioned here? Or do you need help picking some?

  2. Kerry Housley

    I found some images and did a bunch of reviews, edits, and polishing (design and content) on this page and the email content page. I think it's to a good, (mostly) finalized place. Just didn't want either of you (Barb and Aubrey) to have to do it next week.

    Not sure if Keva will have time for a review, but if she doesn't it would be good for you to review for verbiage, grammar, punctuation, etc Aubrey - just in case something doesn't make sense.

    1. user-adc6d

      Thanks for all your work on this, Kerry, it looks great! I'll review today.

  3. Amber Blais

    I've just gone through this page and made some suggested edits via in-line comments.  Barb Seckler Kerry Housley

    1. Barb Seckler

      Thanks Amber Blais ! I made the changes - that was super helpful!

  4. Kerry Housley

    Hey, I'm going to look over this page and the associated email communication today or tomorrow. At first glance, there is a lot of information/words here! I think the pictures may help to break that up a bit. We also may want to explore structuring it differently to help the reader engage more or understand the flow.

    Question for Barb Seckler? Amber Blais? Who is adding the pictures on this page where it says "image needed"? Barb, are you wanting Amber to help by finding some stock images for this?

    1. Barb Seckler

      Ihave some images I will add Kerry Housley -but I'll say I'm open to tweaking them after Amber Blaistakes a look if there are any she thinks we should find something else for.

      1. Barb Seckler

        Kerry Housley Amber BlaisI added the images.  I changed the layout because putting the images side by side looked a little weird but I'm open to your formating pro tips

  5. Kerry Housley

    I made some formatting and layout changes to this page. Let me know if you all think it's okay. I was hoping to make it a bit more user-friendly and digestible. I'll look over the emails next.

  6. Amber Blais

    Looks great to me- I like the photos changing from right to left. I went ahead and re-sized the photos so they were all the same dimension.

  7. Barb Seckler

    Thanks Kerry Housleyand Amber Blais - I'm going to move this page over to the field manual now. I updated the google form link to this year.  It looks great with your edits

  8. Barb Seckler

    user-2ce9fcan you make yourself a task to publish this page on June 30th end of day?