Be Prepared
The conversion of some 50,000 accounts, worth over 3.3 billion dollars, will begin on March 28 at 4pm with MetLife and will end the week of April 20 with Transamerica. This period of time is known as the blackout period and is common in all such transactions. Although you are still invested during this time, you will not be able to access your account. North Shore-LIJ and Transamerica will be working hard to end the blackout period as soon as possible and hope to restore access to your account earlier than the projected week of April 20.
Take the Time to Review
March is a good time to consider increasing your contribution to your retirement plan. If you do decide to boost your savings you can do so by contacting MetLife at mlr.metlife.com or 855-675-4547, prior to the conversion on March 28. Or you can wait after the blackout and contact Transamerica at 844-NSLIJHS (844-675-4547) or nslij.trsretire.com.
Did You Know?
The health system encourages all employees to be smart about saving by automatically contributing 3% of your pay into a 403(b) or 401(k) plan on the one-year anniversary of your hire. To further encourage you, North Shore-LIJ will throw in a 2% match if you increase your contribution to 6%. So start thinking now about how you can get financially fit in time for your retirement.
The timeline and notices for the conversion for North Shore-LIJ plans moving from MetLife to Transamerica and the timeline and notices for the Staten Island University Transamerica fund lineup change can be found on Employee Self Service and nslij.trsretire.com.
4 comments:
Thank you for your comment.
The rate for the FISA Fund in your Retirement Savings Account (stable value account) has nothing to do with the conversion of funds from MetLife to Transamerica. It is purely coincidental that the rates are due to change on the same day as the conversion begins, which is April 1. The current rate is 3% for 403(b) plans and 3.5% for 401(k) plans. We will post the new rate on April 1, 2014.
I would like to rebalance my 403b funds before the transfer period occurs. First, will there be a fees associated with using the rebalancing setting on the MetLife website? I cannot find any literature on this particular issue. Second, once the transfer is complete, if I wanted to make an appointment with Transamerica to look over my account, will there be a fee for that?
Hi. Thank you for your recent post regarding the move in our retirement plans from MetLife to Transamerica Retirement Solutions. To answer your two questions:
1. There will be no fees associated with rebalancing your funds with MetLife, just be sure to do it prior to the blackout period, which begins 4pm on March 28. Sign in at mlr.metlife or call 844-675-4547 to access your account.
2. Once the blackout period is over the week of April 20, your account will be active with Transamerica. Transamerica representatives will be available for group presentations at many locations in April and May. Beginning in June you will be able to schedule a one-on-one appointment with a Transamerica representative. There are no fees for any of these visits.
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