Your retirement plan transition information and important steps for employees to complete

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1 Brighten Your Outlook Your retirement plan transition information and important steps for employees to complete What s included in this letter: Highlights of the new retirement plan How to set up your new account What are the new fund choices What happens to your existing accounts How to consolidate your accounts at Transamerica What are the benefits of this consolidation Why Transamerica? Important reminders Increased flexibility Where to go for more information This is an important communication about your retirement plan. Please read it carefully and keep it for your records. The University of St. Thomas Retirement Program is an important benefit to help you plan for your financial future. The University of St. Thomas is moving the retirement plan to a single recordkeeper: Transamerica Retirement Solutions. This change is the result of a comprehensive review by the university which identified several ways to improve your retirement benefits. Please read on for complete details on how this enhancement benefits you, your new fund lineup, how you can meet with a Transamerica representative, and the action you need to take. What do you need to do: Attend either a group meeting or one-on-one meeting with Transamerica in March on transitioning your retirement funds. Set up your account at Transamerica with your new investment choices. Transfer existing retirement assets, if you choose to do so. Meet with Transamerica Group meetings and one-on-one appointments will be available during March. Representatives will be available to answer all of your questions about the transition including how to set up your new account, how to consolidate your assets, and more. Visit stthomas.trsretire.com to schedule an appointment. Transamerica s representatives are salaried, not commissioned, meaning that they have no hidden incentives. Their goal is to help educate you on the features of the plan and ensure that you are saving and investing wisely. The role of the transfer specialist is to assist you with your savings and investment plan. There are no fees or commissions for meeting with your transfer specialist, who is a registered representative with Transamerica Investors Securities Corporation. Review the fees and expenses you pay, including any charges associated with transferring your account, to see if consolidating your accounts could help reduce your costs. Be sure to consider whether such a transfer changes any features or benefits that may be important to you. University of St. Thomas Retirement Savings Plan

2 Highlights One plan. As you ve heard, effective with the move to Transamerica, our two retirement plans will be consolidated into one plan called the University of St. Thomas Retirement Plan and all employee contributions and any university contributions will be made to one account going forward. This will make it easier to review all contributions under a single plan and understand how your contributions and those you may receive from the university build your total retirement savings. New, single recordkeeper and a new account. Beginning with your first paycheck in April, Transamerica will be the plan s recordkeeper for all new contributions to the plan. A new account will be established for you at Transamerica. Transferring your existing balances. The choice is yours. Your assets will remain with Fidelity and TIAA-CREF unless you decide to transfer them to Transamerica. See page 4 of this newsletter for more information on consolidating your accounts. You will have the opportunity to meet with a salaried Transamerica representative to assist you in making informed choices. A smooth transition. There will be no interruption to your contributions and more information will be provided including an opportunity to meet with a Transamerica representative. A new website and call center. You ll use Transamerica s website and call center to manage your new account. Visit stthomas.trsretire.com today for more information. Starting on March 2, 2015, sign in online or call to set up your new Transamerica account. Onsite help. Salaried Transamerica retirement planning consultants will be on campus in March to meet with you one-on-one. They will help you review your new account and answer any questions you have. Review the fees and expenses you pay, including any charges associated with transferring your account, to see if consolidating your accounts could help reduce your costs. Be sure to consider whether such a transfer changes any features or benefits that may be important to you. Setting up your new account There is action you need to take before the move to Transamerica. If you do not, your account may not be invested or distributed according to your wishes. Between March 2 and March 20, 2015, sign in at stthomas.trsretire.com or call and take the following actions. 1. Choose new investment options. Your existing investment options will not transfer, so you need to choose new ones at Transamerica. If you don t, your account will be invested in an age-appropriate T. Rowe Price target date fund. 2. Designate a new beneficiary. The beneficiary election you made for your account will not transfer to Transamerica. Because it s important to ensure your account will be distributed according to your wishes in the event of your death, you must designate a beneficiary with Transamerica. If you don t, your Transamerica account will be distributed according to the plan s default beneficiary rules. 3. Review your savings rate and make any changes you feel are necessary. Your current savings rate will transfer to Transamerica, and you will continue saving without interruption. Now may be a good time, though, to consider saving more if you can. Research has shown that small, regular increases to your retirement account even if it s only 1% of your pay per year can really add up over time. 4. Attend an educational meeting. Salaried Transamerica representatives will be on site throughout the month of March for group and one-on-one meetings. Go to stthomas.trsretire.com to schedule an appointment. 2

3 Brighten Your Outlook Your retirement plan transition information and important steps for employees to complete Your new fund choices Careful research has been done to ensure that the funds being offered represent a wide variety of fund families, investment styles, and have a record of strong performance. Whether you are new to investing and want a one-step approach or are an experienced investor and want to manage your own investment mix, a solution is available to you from the options below. The University of St. Thomas Retirement Plan Fund Lineup Are you looking for a one-step investing solution? Target date funds are designed for the investor who wants a one-step solution to investing for retirement. These funds provide diversification in a single fund, managed to a specific time horizon a targeted retirement date. This type of investment automatically adjusts from aggressive to conservative investments over time. Consider investing in one fund dated closest to the year in which you turn age 65 (or when you expect to retire). Fund Name Investment Category T. Rowe Price Retirement Funds Target Date Fund Do you want to build your own portfolio? If you re a knowledgeable investor, you can create your own investment mix and do it with funds selected by the Retirement Investment Committee. Transamerica can help you review your available investments when you meet one-on-one. Target date options generally invest in a mix of stocks, bonds, cash equivalents, and potentially other asset classes, either directly or via underlying investments, and may be subject to all of the risks of these asset classes. The allocations become more conservative over time: The percentage of assets allocated to stocks will decrease while the percentage allocated to bonds will increase as the target date approaches. The higher the allocation is to stocks, the greater the risk. The principal value of the investment option is never guaranteed, including at and after the target date. Fund Name Investment Category NY Life Guaranteed Interest Account Stable Value Janus Flexible Bond I Intermediate-term Bond American Beacon Large Cap Value Inst Large Value Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Adm Large Blend Vanguard FTSE Social Index Inv Large Blend (with social, environmental, and governance screens) Fidelity Growth Company Large Growth Victory Veracity Small-Cap Value R6 Small Value American Beacon Stephens Small Cap Growth Instl Small Growth Dodge & Cox International Stock Foreign Large Value Harbor International Growth Instl Foreign Large Growth GMO Benchmark-Free Allocation Series Fund R6 World Allocation Do you want to be more actively involved in constructing your portfolio? If you have a sophisticated understanding of investment principles and the stock market, you may consider opening a self-directed brokerage account to invest your plan contributions. The self-directed brokerage option is not available for contributions made by the University of St. Thomas. A brokerage account allows you to invest your account in an even wider variety of funds than what is offered under the plan. You are solely responsible for managing your brokerage account, so be sure that you have the resources to research and monitor your investments and that you re comfortable with the additional risk involved. Brokerage account Charles Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account (PCRA) More information about Schwab PCRA is available at schwab.com/pcra. Please see page 7 for important fund and service disclosures, including important risk factors. For more information on any registered fund, please call for a free summary prospectus (if available) and/or prospectus. You should consider the objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of an investment carefully before investing. The summary prospectus and prospectus contain this and other information. Read them carefully before you invest. 3

4 Your existing accounts The choice is yours You may keep your existing balance with Fidelity and TIAA-CREF or transfer them to Transamerica it s your choice. Unless you take action, your existing assets will remain at Fidelity and TIAA-CREF. If you don t transfer your assets now, you can always do so later. Keep in mind, all new contributions will be directed to Transamerica beginning with the first paycheck in April. Consolidating your accounts at Transamerica You may want to consider consolidating your accounts at Transamerica. Doing so means having your retirement plan and savings in one place. When you meet one-on-one, salaried Transamerica representatives will have the paperwork you need to consolidate your accounts. They can answer your questions about consolidating and help you complete the paperwork. You can also contact a Transamerica transfer specialist at , starting on March 2, Benefits of consolidation It may be easier to understand how much you ve saved so far (and how much more you need to save to prepare for your desired retirement). Your entire account is invested in the flexible investment options that have been carefully selected and monitored by the Retirement Investment Committee and independent advisors. Only one website to visit, one contact center to call, and one statement to check. Administrative fees deducted from Transamerica accounts are significantly less than the fees deducted from investment returns at TIAA-CREF and Fidelity. Why Transamerica? After a thorough review of recordkeepers, including Fidelity and TIAA-CREF, Transamerica was selected because they offer the best combination of services, including award-winning education and customer support to all employees, at a reasonable cost. Transamerica is a full-service retirement plan recordkeeper for institutions of higher education across the country, and they have worked with retirement plans for more than 75 years. Today, more than 3.6 million people across America invest and manage their retirement savings through Transamerica. The move to Transamerica also provided the university with strengthened bargaining power resulting in approximately a 50% administrative fee reduction for participants. 4

5 Brighten Your Outlook Your retirement plan transition information and important steps for employees to complete Important reminders New IRS plan limits for 2015 Don t forget, you can contribute up to the annual IRS limit ($18,000 in 2015) but If you re age 50 or older, or will be this year, you can make an additional catch-up contribution (up to $6,000 in 2015). Roth contributions Remember, The University of St. Thomas Retirement Plan allows you to designate some or all of your contributions as after-tax Roth contributions (versus traditional pretax contributions). In general, Roth contributions tend to offer a bigger tax benefit down the road, while pretax contributions typically pay off more upfront. Which to choose largely depends on whether you expect your federal tax bracket to be higher or lower at retirement than it is when you contribute. If you re unsure, you can use Roth contributions to diversify your tax risk, i.e., to expose some of your savings to taxes now and some later. Even so, your pretax and Roth contributions combined generally may not exceed the annual IRS limit (for 2015: $18,000 if you are under age 50; $24,000 if you will be 50 or older during the year). Increased flexibility Along with the move to Transamerica, you ll have increased flexibility to access the funds in your account. Withdrawals will be permitted if you have attained age 59 1/2 or for IRS defined hardship reasons. While the plan is becoming more flexible in terms of withdrawals, taking your money out of the plan means you ll no longer build earnings on that amount (and any earnings on those earnings, and so on). This type of long-term growth is one of the main benefits of your plan and one of the keys to your financial future. A withdrawal may sometimes make immediate financial sense, but be sure to carefully consider the impact it will have on your retirement savings. Early withdrawals from retirement accounts can also trigger tax penalties. 5

6 Where to go for more information Want more information about the transition? Need help updating your retirement planning strategy? TIAA-CREF For questions about your TIAA-CREF account and to manage your TIAA-CREF investments. tiaa-cref.org Fidelity For questions about your Fidelity account and to manage your Fidelity investments. fidelity.com Transamerica Today: Visit online for additional transition information, to review the new fund lineup, and get copies of transition materials you may have missed. stthomas.trsretire.com Schedule a one-on-one appointment with Transamerica (if you don t have one already). Starting March 2: Sign in or call customer service to review your new Transamerica account to choose your new investments, review your savings rate, and designate a new beneficiary. 6 Sign in online Call Transamerica, starting March 2 The first time you sign in online at stthomas.trsretire.com, click the New user? Get started now link below the sign in box at the top-right corner of your screen. You ll be asked to enter your Social Security number and birthdate to validate your identity before you re walked through a few simple steps to set up your unique Transamerica user ID and password The first time you call to access your new Transamerica account, you ll be asked to state or type your Social Security number and your birthdate to validate your identity before creating a unique personal identification number (PIN).

7 Brighten Your Outlook Your retirement plan transition information and important steps for employees to complete Important disclosures Transamerica and its agents and representatives do not provide tax or legal advice. The information contained in this newsletter is for informational purposes and should not be construed as legal or tax advice. For legal or tax advice concerning your situation, please consult your attorney or professional tax advisor. Descriptions of plan features and benefits are subject to the plan document, which will govern in the event of any inconsistencies. Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account (PCRA) is not a fund but rather a self-directed brokerage account maintained at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. You must individually apply for PCRA and are solely responsible for your fund selections made under the PCRA. Commissions and transaction fees may apply to fund trades placed outside of the Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource program or trades on other investment vehicles available through Schwab. An annual fee of $50 will be applied by Transamerica if you invest in the Schwab PCRA. Securities purchased through the PCRA are available through Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., (Member SIPC). Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. is not affiliated with Transamerica. Stable: To provide competitive yields and limited volatility with a guarantee of principal and accumulated interest. Intermediate-Term Bonds: The value of bonds changes in response to changes in economic conditions, interest rates, and the creditworthiness of individual issuers. Bonds can lose value as interest rates rise, and an investor can lose principal. Large-Cap Value Stocks: Stocks have historically offered the potential for greater long-term returns, but also entail greater short-term risks than other investments. Value stocks may be subject to special risks that have caused the stocks to be out of favor and undervalued in the opinion of the portfolio managers who invest in them. Large-Cap Blend Stocks: Stocks have historically offered the potential for greater long-term returns, but also entail greater short-term risks than other investments. Blend strategies are subject to both growth and value risks. Large-Cap Growth Stocks: Stocks have historically offered the potential for greater long-term returns, but also entail greater short-term risks than other investments. Most growth investments offer higher potential capital appreciation but usually at above-average risk. Growth stocks can perform differently than other types of stocks and the market as a whole and can be more volatile than other types of stocks. Small-Cap Value Stocks: Stocks of small companies involve additional risks, including a higher risk of failure, and are not as well established as large, blue-chip companies. Historically, small-company stocks have experienced greater price volatility than the overall market. Value stocks may be subject to special risks that have caused the stocks to be out of favor and undervalued in the opinion of the portfolio managers who invest in them. Small-Cap Growth Stocks: Small-company stocks involve additional risks, including a higher risk of failure, and are not as well established as large, blue-chip companies. Historically, small-company stocks have experienced greater price volatility than the overall market average. Growth stocks can perform differently than other types of stocks and the market as a whole and can be more volatile than other types of stocks. World/Foreign Stocks: The risks of world/foreign stocks include, but are not limited to, currency risk, political risk, and risk associated with varying accounting standards. Investing in emerging, or developing, markets may accentuate these risks. The University of St. Thomas has selected Transamerica Retirement Solutions as your retirement plan provider, but there are no other affiliations between The University of St. Thomas and Transamerica or its affiliate, TISC. 7

8 PRESORTED FIRST-CLASS MAIL US POSTAGE PAID WHITE PLAINS, NY PERMIT # Mamaroneck Avenue Harrison, NY PT_NL_UST (02/15) 2015 Transamerica Retirement Solutions Corporation Brighten Your Outlook Your retirement plan transition information and important steps for employees to complete News about your retirement plan s move to Transamerica Retirement Solutions University of St. Thomas Retirement Savings Plan