Distributions

 

Main Page           FAQs           Committee and Forms

Distributions

The IRS regulates and limits the access you have to your retirement savings. You may withdraw your contributions (take a distribution) only when you:

  • leave employment with the Universities of Wisconsin,
  • reach age 59 ½ — even if you are still working, or
  • become disabled.

Once you meet the eligibility criteria above, you have three options to manage your UW 403(b) SRP assets. Make sure to explore the pros and cons of each before making a decision.

  • Leave your assets with your provider in the UW 403(b) SRP.
  • Roll over to another plan with a new employer or to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA).
  • Cash out. Get immediate access to your retirement savings, minus 20% withholding and possible early withdrawal penalties under age 59 ½.

To access your funds, contact your SRP provider(s). Withdrawals from TIAA and Fidelity may be initiated over the phone or through online distribution requests. To withdraw your funds from Lincoln or Ameriprise, you must use their form.

Note: Only the following frozen providers – Allspring Global Investments (Wells Fargo originally Strong), DWS (Scudder), American United Life (One America), and Security Benefit Life — require a signature from the 403(b) SRP Administrator. BNY Mellon (Dreyfus) does not require a signature once the participant is 59 ½ or older.

See Transfer from a Current or Frozen Provider for frozen provider contact information.

The money you take out from your pre-tax SRP accounts is taxed as regular income to you in the year you receive it:

  • Withdrawals before age 59 ½ may result in tax penalties.
  • If you terminate

    UW employment at age 55 or older – even though you are not 59 ½ – you may take distributions from your UW SRP pre-tax accounts without being subject to the 10% tax penalty for early withdrawal.

Withdrawals from your Roth after-tax 403(b) account are tax-free as long as you meet the IRS restrictions:

  • You must have had the account open at least five years from your first Roth contribution, and
  • You must be at least 59 ½ years old.

The SECURE 2.0 Act, which became law in December 2022, increases the age at which individuals must begin taking Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from their retirement account from 72 to 73, starting on Jan. 1, 2023. SECURE 2.0 enhances the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act) that became law on December 20, 2019. The Secure Act had also made changes to the RMD rules.

Under the initial  Secure Act, if you reached age 70 ½ in 2020 or later and you were no longer working for the University, you had to take your first RMD by April 1 of the year after you reached 72. (If you reached 70 ½ before January 1, 2020, you must have taken your first RMD by April 1 of the year after you reached 70 ½.)

With SECURE 2.0,  if you reach 73  in 2023 or later and are no longer working for the University, you must take your first RMD by April 1 of the year after you reach 73. If you had reached 72 in 2022 or earlier, you will need to continue taking RMDs as scheduled.

Secure 2.0 also reduces the penalties associated with failing to take an RMD. If you neglect to take the distribution, you will incur a 25% tax penalty (reduced from 50%) on the minimum amount you should have received. The penalty will be further reduced to 10% if you take appropriate action. Your investment provider will calculate your minimum required distribution upon request.

Note: If you are still working at the UW at age 73, you do not need to take a distribution from your UW 403(b) SRP until April 1 of the year following your termination of employment. Please note, if you choose to delay until April after the year you retire, you'll need to take a second RMD for the same year by Dec. 31 of that year.

If you have accounts with previous employers or IRAs, you should begin taking distributions on those accounts according to your age and the appropriate legislation -- by April 1 of the year after you turn 73 (70 ½ if you were born before July 1, 1949, or 72 if you were born July 1,1949 and after but before January 1, 1950).

Rollovers & Transfers

If you have funds in an account from a previous employer or you have funds with one of our frozen providers, you may benefit from moving that money to a current provider with the UW 403(b) SRP. Consider the following information based on your situation:

If you are permitted to withdraw your money from your former plan, you can roll it into an account in the UW 403(b) SRP -- with either TIAA or Fidelity.

Money that you roll in to your UW 403(b) SRP account will be treated like other 403(b) money for all tax purposes, except that you may be allowed to withdraw it before terminating employment or reaching age 59 ½, usually with a 10% tax penalty.  

The UW 403(b) SRP will accept money from 401(a) "qualified" plans, 401(k), 403(a), 403(b), 457 governmental deferred compensation plans, and Thrift Savings Plans, as well as from traditional (pre-tax), SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs. Be aware that if you roll your 457 account into a non-457 plan, it becomes subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty, which could otherwise not apply.

If you decide to roll over a retirement account, elect a direct rollover, in which the money is paid directly to the new plan. Otherwise, 20% of the account will be withheld for income tax. 

To get started, contact your former plan or employer to get distribution paperwork. You may also need roll-in paperwork from your current UW 403(b) SRP provider.

Note: Roth IRAs can only be rolled into other Roth IRAs by federal regulation.

You may move your money within the UW 403(b) SRP between current providers - TIAA and Fidelity - or from a frozen provider to a current provider. Since frozen providers no longer accept contributions, you may want to consolidate your account with a current provider. If you don't have an account with either TIAA or Fidelity, sign up before you start the transfer process. To begin the transfer process, call the new provider and ask for a 403(b) transfer request. Complete the form(s) and return them to the new provider. Your new provider is responsible for contacting the old provider and requesting the money.

Exception: If you are transferring money from Ameriprise/RiverSource or Lincoln you must also use their form. You will also need the new provider's form. Complete both and send them to your new company. Alert your new provider that it must submit the Ameriprise/RiverSource or Lincoln form.

Below is contact information for the frozen providers (current provider information can be found in the Overview).

If you would like more information, review Tips for Transferring Funds pdf .

Loans

If you need access to your money and you can’t or don’t want to take a distribution, you may be eligible to take a loan from your SRP account.

Loans are available from current SRP providers TIAA and Fidelity, and from frozen providers Ameriprise/RiverSource and Lincoln. With TIAA, Fidelity, and Ameriprise you borrow the money from yourself and pay the interest to your own account. With Lincoln, a portion of your account is collateralized, and you borrow from the company, but the interest rate is low.

To start the loan process contact your SRP provider. Each provider has its own loan procedure. University authorization is not needed. In the UW 403(b) SRP, you may have up to two outstanding loans at any time, either both from the same provider or one each from different providers. The minimum loan amount is $1,000 and you may borrow the lesser of $50,000 or one-half of your account, subject to federal regulation and provider requirements. There are no restrictions on what the loan can be used for. Generally, the loan must be repaid within five years unless the loan is used to acquire your principal residence. Loan repayments are made from your bank account to the provider.

The loan administrative fee depends on which provider you use and are generally quite low.

  • With TIAA, the origination fee is $75 per loan, ($125 for a primary residence) along with a $25 annual loan maintenance fee per loan. This is assessed annually in January.
  • With Fidelity, there is a $35 origination fee plus a $3.75 per quarter maintenance fee. If you take a loan with Fidelity, the costs in the first year will be $50: every year thereafter you will pay $15.

Your monthly loan repayments, including interest payments, are reinvested into your account. These payments do not count towards IRS contribution limits, and you can keep contributing to your account as you repay your loan. However, if you take a loan, you may miss out on potential market growth you might have gained on that money.

You may continue paying off your loan even if you have terminated Universities of Wisconsin employment. You can also initiate a loan even if you are no longer employed with Universities of Wisconsin.

Contact Information

UW 403(B) SRP
Current Providers 
  • TIAA | (800) 842-2776
    • University of Wisconsin TIAA Plan ID Number is 100988
Past Providers

Updated: 06/19/2025