Tdas: an Investment in Your Future
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TDAs: An Investment In Your Future Have you thought lately about your retirement? About what you want to do? About whether you’ll have enough money to live comfortably and pursue your interests? Chances are, if you’ree young, you haven’t givengiven retirementretirementetirement much much thought. thought.And, if you’re And, olderif you’r, youe older may , haveyou maygiven have it some given thought, it some butthought, you may but younot havemay notdone have what done you what need you to do need to ensureneed to financial do to ensur security.e financial No matter security.what your No age, matter now whatis the your best age,time now to start is the preparing best time for to retirstart preparing forbecause retirement Congress because has made Congr savingess has for made retirement saving morfor retirement more attractiveever.ever This thanbrochur ever. This brochure describes one of the best ways toetire- begin yourretirement planning.e’s why: Here’s why: YourYour retir retirement income will basically come from threeee sources: sources: • RetirRetirementement plans:plans: YourYour benefitbenefit frfrom Teacher Retirementement System System (TRS) (TRS)or the Optionalor the Optional Retirement Retir ementPr Program (ORP) and possibly other employers’ retirement plans • Social Security • Your personal savings Most retireesrretirees fifind that income fromom theirtheir employeremployer retirementretirement plans plans and and Social Security is not enough to maintain the standardd of living of living they theywould would like tolike enjoy to enjoy during during r ement.retirement. Too be To truly be trulycomfortable, comfortable, most most people need personal savings as well. One of the best ways to build personal savings is by etirementusing a Tax is -Deferredby Account (TDA). Throughed Account the A&M(TDA). System, Throughough you the can A&M contribute System, to you a traditional or Roth TDA through convenient payrollough convenientdeduction. Withpayroll the Tdeduction.raditional WTDA, yourraditional contributions TDA, TDA, your contributionsyour contributions aree from are before-from before-tax income.tax income. W With a Roth TDA, your contributionse from are after-tax from after- tax income. And the earlier you start, the moree you you can cansave save for foryour your future. future. TThishis brochurbrochure describes how a TDA works, its advantages and how you advantagescan enroll. Tand how you can enroll. Take a few minutes nowe. to invest in your future. What is a Tax-Deferred Account? A Tax-Deferred Account (TDA) is a way for you to save for retire- TDA Advantages ment. All A&M System employees, including wage employees TDAs have many advantages over traditional savings: and graduate students, can use the traditional and/or Roth TDA • You choose how much to save through convenient to lower current federal income tax liability or future federal tax payroll deduction. liability upon retirement. • You choose how to invest your money and have fl exibility in changing investments. When you enroll in a traditional or Roth TDA, you agree to have • You choose how to receive your money when you a specifi c amount or percentage deducted from each of your pay- retire, from the choices offered by your investment vendor. checks and sent to the investment vendor you choose from the A&M System list of active vendors. Traditional TDA Advantages • You can save before-tax money for retirement, With a traditional TDA, your contribution is deducted from your lowering your current income taxes. pay before federal income tax is calculated, so you do not pay cur- • While your taxable income is lower, your Social Security and A&M System benefi ts, such as life rent income tax on your contributions and the money does not show insurance, will be based on your total salary. up on your W-2 form as income. Likewise, you do not pay current • If you believe your tax bracket will be lower when income tax on the investment earnings on your TDA savings. you retire, the tax you eventually pay on your TDA money will probably be less than if you were taxed With a Roth TDA, your contribution is deducted from your pay now. • Your savings will grow faster because taxes on after federal income tax is calculated, so you pay current income earnings are deferred. tax on your contributions and the money is included on your W-2 form as income. You do not pay income tax on your invest- Roth TDA Advantages ment earnings now or in the future. • You withdraw contributions and earnings tax-free when you retire. • If you believe your tax bracket will be higher when The money you save through your TDA, as well as the invest- you retire, the tax you pay today will be less than ment earnings it generates, will be paid to you during retirement. in the future. When you begin receiving your traditional TDA money, you will • Contributing to a Roth TDA may reduce your tax- then have to pay income tax on it. When you begin receiving able income later if your Social Security benefi ts your Roth TDA money, the contributions and earnings are not are near or exceed the limit. • The Roth TDA became a permanent provision part of your taxable income. with the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The Tax Advantage of a Traditional TDA: Investment Earnings Deferring taxes on your investment earnings until retirement is a major advantage. Because you do not pay income tax- es each year on earnings, money that would otherwise go to pay taxes remains in your account and is invested to help your account grow even faster. Here’s an example of how the same amount of savings grows over the years, one with tax-deferred earnings and one with earnings taxed each year. For purposes of the example, we’ll assume you contribute $100 to the account each month, earn 8% and are in a 27% tax bracket. Tax-deferred 5 years 10 years 15 years 20 years 25 years 30 years $7,397 $18,417 $34,835 $59,295 $95,737 $150,030 After-tax 5 10 15 20 25 30 $5,027 $11,754 $20,756 $32,802 $48,922 $70,492 Even if you pay 27% in taxes on your account balance at withdrawal, a total of $40,508, you’ll still end up with $109,522 from your traditional TDA, $39,030 more than in the after-tax account. And, your tax bracket may be lower at retirement than during your working years, giving you an even larger advantage. the following month, as often as Comparison of Traditional and Roth TDA you like. Contributions on Monthly Income And, you may change vendors for already invested money, for future Traditional Roth contributions or for both. Gross Income $ 50,000 $ 50,000 Traditional Contribution <5,000> N/A Any investment involves some risk. Taxable Income $ 45,000 $ 50,000 Often, those investments with the most 25% Income Tax <11,250> <12,500> risk also have the highest potential for After-Tax Income $ 33,750 $ 37,500 growth. You are fully responsible for Roth Contribution N/A <5,000> choosing your investment vendor(s) Take-home Pay $ 33,750 $ 32,500 and fund(s) and for any gains and losses in your account value. Questions to Consider Before Deciding on a A variety of vendors are authorized by the A&M System so that you can Traditional or Roth TDA choose the type of investment and the The more you answer “yes,” the more likely the Roth TDA may be right for you. amount of risk you are willing to as- • Do I plan to work quite a few more years before retiring? sume. You may want to talk to a num- • Do I think my tax rate will be higher by the time I retire? ber of vendors and carefully review • Am I willing to swap a current tax break for a longer-term tax benefi t? • Can I afford to spend more of my annual salary now so I can contribute the same their investment options, charges and to an after-tax Roth TDA as I would to a pre-tax traditional TDA? past investment performance before • Do I like the idea of diversifying my tax strategy, just like I diversify my invest- making a choice. You may also want to ment strategy? consult a professional investment and • Am I focused on passing as much as possible to my heirs? tax advisor about the best types of in- Contributions If you and your spouse are both em- vestments for your personal situation and which TDA works best for you. You may contribute as little as $25 per ployed by the A&M System, you may month to a TDA. The maximum con- each have your own TDA and the con- Information on retirement products tribution amount for both traditional tribution limits will apply separately. offered by active vendors can be found at each vendor’s web site. Links to and Roth TDAs, which is set by the You may begin a TDA or change your vendor web sites are located at IRS, will be as follows in 2019: contribution amount once each tamus.edu/offices/benefits/retirement/. month. Also, you may stop If you are younger than 50 contributing to your TDA at any time Distributions • $19,000 if you have less than 15 by updating your amount percentage Because the purpose of a TDA is to years of A&M System service to $0 in Workday. Changes are provide retirement income, you may effective the 1st of each month begin receiving distributions from If you are 50 or older following the day you make the your account without penalty any time • $25,000 if you have less than 15 change.