To empower public school employers to give their employees a wider spectrum of investment choices, we created a unique 457(b) plan with options ranging from safe and guaranteed investments to low-cost market investments. In addition, this TDS plan is customizable, allowing employers to add multiple vendors to meet their employees’ needs. By offering a plan with multiple providers, an employer reduces liability and ensures choice for employees – and TDS offers the only such plan of its kind.
Our 457(b) plan is a tax-deferred retirement savings plan, an optional employee benefit available only to select employers. Similar to a 403(b) plan, a 457(b) accepts pre-tax contributions directly from an employee’s salary. Federal and state income taxes are deferred until the assets are withdrawn, usually during retirement. TDS may provide the plan, plan trust and administration at no cost to the employer.
A 457(b) Deferred Compensation plan is an employer sponsored plan that allows employees to deduct pre-tax dollars from their paychecks and contribute the monies into a retirement savings plan. The 457(b) plans pre-tax status is similar to the traditionally offered 403(b) retirement savings plan. 457(b) plans are eligible governmental supplemental retirement plans and as such, are not subject to qualified plan distribution rules.
Although the 403(b) and 457(b) plans are funded with pre-tax contributions, the plans differ significantly.
The TDS 457(b) plan uses an Open Investment Architecture. This provides a non-proprietary platform of investment choices for employees to select from. Offering multiple vendors allow employees to select a savings plan tailored to their individual goals. TDS does not promote any specific vendor, and we encourage all investment companies to work with our multi-vendor platform.