If you wish to remain in ORP, you have 90 days, beginning from your employment start date, in which you must enroll with an ORP provider. If you fail to do this within 90 days of your employment start date, you will default into FRS.
Eligible positions include persons who are employed or appointed for no less than one academic year in one of the following: General Faculty; Administrative and Professional; Chancellor of the State University System; President of the University; member of the SUS Executive Service. The retirement plan choice you make may be irrevocable. If you elect to remain in ORP or you elect FRS, you must remain in that plan as long as you remain employed with the same institution and continue to meet the eligibility requirement.
There are two ways you can select Voya for your ORP:
- Meet with your local representative.
Call 1-800-584-6001 and schedule an appointment to meet/speak with a local representative to enroll in the plan. Your representative will guide you through the enrollment process, as well as help you:
Develop a plan to help work towards your investment and retirement objectives Select the investment options that will help you pursue your objectives Designate a beneficiary for your plan benefits.
Online enrollment.
Online enrollment is a quick and easy process. To get started, select the “Enroll Now” button on this page. Before enrolling online, be prepared to provide the name of each person you wish to designate as your beneficiary. You may submit up to 10 beneficiaries online. If you have more than 10 beneficiaries, we suggest that you schedule an appointment to meet with a local representative for additional assistance.While enrolling online, you will be offered electronic copies of a participant disclosure booklet, investment fact sheets, and other documents we are required to provide at enrollment. Included is a “Payroll Authorization” link to the State University System Optional Retirement Program (SUSORP) R etirement Plan Enrollment form. You must complete and return the form to your employer. If you would prefer to review a hard copy of these enrollment materials, you can request them by meeting with a local representative.
Benefits
Effective 7/1/12, benefits including employee contributions, are not payable under this plan for employee hardships, unforeseeable emergencies, loans, medical expenses, educational expenses, purchase of a principal residence, payments necessary to prevent eviction or foreclosure on an employee’s principal residence or any other reason except a requested distribution for retirement, a mandatory de minimis distribution authorized by the administrator, or a required minimum distribution provided pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code.
Optional Retirement Plan (ORP)
Below are the important features about the plan. This website is intended to be a summary of the plan provisions. In the event that a conflict exists between the information contained within this website and the plan document, the plan document provisions prevail.
The Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) is a defined contribution plan, sponsored by the State of Florida, that is offered to eligible employees as an alternative to the Florida Retirement System (FRS) defined benefit pension plan.
With ORP, your university will contribute a percentage of your earnings each pay period so that you may purchase an annuity when you retire. You also may choose to make voluntary contributions to your ORP account. Regardless of your length of service, you will be eligible to receive a lifetime monthly annuity income at retirement that will be based on the amount contributed, the investment earnings or losses of those contributions, and the type of mutual fund or the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund that you have selected.
Eligibility
If you are employed in an ORP-approved position expected to last no less than one academic year and are otherwise eligible to participate in the FRS, you automatically will be enrolled in the ORP.
You will have 90 days to choose an ORP provider company or to elect membership in FRS in lieu of ORP.
Any employee who is eligible to participate in the ORP who fails to execute an annuity contract with one of the approved companies, and to notify the division in writing within 90 days of the date of eligibility, shall be deemed to have elected membership in FRS.
Note: it is important to know that the retirement plan choice you make may be irrevocable. For example, if you elect to remain in ORP or you elect FRS, you must remain in that plan as long as you remain employed with the same institution and continue to meet the eligibility requirement. ORP eligible positions include persons who are employed or appointed for no less than one academic year in one of the following positions:
- General faculty
- Administrative and Professional
- Chancellor of State University System
- President of the University
- Member of the SUS Executive Service
Contributions The SUSORP is a 403(b), Internal Revenue Code, qualified defined contribution plan that provides full and immediate vesting of all contributions submitted to the participating companies on behalf of the participant. Employees in eligible positions are compulsory participants in the Optional Retirement Program during the first 90 days of employment. The employing university contributes on behalf of the participant a percentage of the participant’s salary as required by law. As of July 1, 2012, this contribution rate is 5.14% of the participant’s salary. A portion remains in the Optional Retirement Program Trust Fund for program administrative costs. The remaining contribution (5.14%) is invested with the company or companies selected by the participant to create a fund to provide benefits for the employee at retirement. In addition, effective July 1, 2011, each participant is required to contribute 3% of compensation. The participant may also contribute by salary reduction a voluntary amount not to exceed the 5.14% contributed by the university to the participant’s account. Under the Plan, the maximum annual contribution amount is set by Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidelines on a yearly basis. You may view the current limits here.
Withdrawals
Effective 7/1/11, there will be no access to employee voluntary contributions at age 59 ½ (or any other age) unless the employee has met the new definition of termination. The SUSORP does not allow distributions of any kind prior to termination of employment.
Payout Options
If you change employers, your account is portable and can be continued on a tax-deferred basis if your new employer sponsors a retirement plan that will accept a rollover of such funds. Or, the account can remain at Voya and continue to receive tax-deferred investment experience until you elect to receive it. General faculty Administrative and Professional Chancellor of State University System President of the University Member of the SUS Executive Service When you retire, the program provides a wide variety of payout options (subject to your plan provisions) including:
- A lump-sum distribution to the participant;
- A lump-sum direct rollover distribution to an eligible retirement plan,
- Periodic distributions;
- A partial lump-sum payment and the remaining amount is transferred to an eligible retirement plan
- Such other distribution options as are provided for in the participant’s optional retirement program contract.
- Series of partial withdrawals
- Systematic payout options specifying a percentage, a dollar amount, or a time period. Payments guaranteed for your lifetime or as long as you and your beneficiary are alive.
If you die before you retire, your beneficiary may elect to receive the value of your account or select one of several settlement options.
Please refer to the disclosure materials in your Enrollment Kit (in the "Enrollment" section of this website) and/or the "Performance Report" (in the "Investment Performance" section of this website) for specifics regarding charges, expenses, fees, transfer restrictions, etc.