The Board of Regents has approved a phased retirement program for faculty and other Regents unclassified employees. This program is available to eligible Medical Center employees on a voluntary basis and is designed to facilitate an employee's transition to retirement.

An eligible staff member who enters into a phased retirement contract will be able to reduce his/her teaching and/or other responsibilities to between 25% and 50% of a full-time appointment while maintaining the current benefit status. Hence, a person currently working full-time who enters into the phased retirement program would continue to receive full health insurance, life insurance, leave accruals, and the Medical Center's retirement contributions. The employee's salary would be based on the new appointment percentage with the employee's retirement contribution based on the new salary.

Eligibility

Phased retirement is available to Regents unclassified employees currently working on a 50% to 100% appointment and who have attained age 55 with at least 10 years of full-time service with one or more Board of Regents institutions.

Requirements and Limits

• The agreement must be mutually agreed upon by the employee and be in the best interest of the university. The university may deny the request.
• Tenure is not affected.
• The participant must retire at the end of the agreement period.
• By mutual consent between the University and the Phased Retirement participant, the Phased Retirement agreement can be modified by further reducing the FTE prior to the specified date of retirement or by permitting the participant to take full retirement at an earlier date.
• The agreement can be rescinded within 48 hours of signature at the option of the employee.
• The maximum length of any phased retirement agreement is 5 years. The Executive Vice Chancellor has determined that phased retirement terms in excess of 3 years are not conducive to continuity of education, patient care or research and in most cases will not be approved.
• The participant may be re-employed after completion of a phased retirement agreement on a post-retirement basis.
• The participant may begin retirement income from the Board of Regents retirement plan.

How to Apply

A written request should be submitted to the department head by the interested staff member. Upon a determination that it is in the best interest of the University, a Phased Retirement Agreement will be drawn up for signature by the employee and the appropriate university officials.

Accessing Your Account and Kansas Taxes

Currently, income you receive from your Kansas Board of Regents tax sheltered retirement account will be subject to Federal income tax but will not be subject to Kansas state income tax. This provision is subject to change in the future. It is recommended that you inform the mandatory retirement company that income derived from this Kansas Board of Regents 403(b) contract is not subject to Kansas state income tax and ask whether there is a special election form available on which you can indicate that your distribution will not be subject to state tax. Otherwise, the retirement company will withhold state taxes and you will have to seek refund of those dollars when you submit your Kansas individual income tax forms.

Please note that under the Phased Retirement Agreement, you can access mandatory retirement plan amounts that have at all times been invested in a 403(b) annuity contract with Voya, Lincoln National, Security Benefit Group or TIAA-CREF. But, with respect to amounts that have at any time been invested in TIAA-CREF's or Voya's 403(b)(7) mutual fund custodial account program (even if those amounts were subsequently transferred to a 403(b) annuity contract), you must be at least age 59 ½ before access to those amounts is permitted.

If you move your funds to a company that has not been approved by the Kansas Board of Regents, the funds will be subject to Kansas state income tax.

If you have questions about the IRS penalty or other withholding taxes, please consult a qualified advisor for assistance with your personal tax situation.

Contact

• Contact Imelda Osborn with any questions at 913-588-5995. Faculty and staff on the Wichita School of Medicine Campus should contact Wichita Human Resources at 316-293-2615.