Retirement benefits vary according to employee group, employment status, percent time, age and date of hire.
University Human Resources
Retirement Plans
Faculty/Staff Retirement Plans
The 403(b) Brown University Legacy Retirement Plan for Faculty and Exempt Staff includes faculty and exempt employees with a hire date before March 1, 2001.
The 403(b) Brown University Legacy Retirement Plan for Non-Exempt Staff includes non-exempt employees hired before March 1, 2001.
The 403(b) Brown University Deferred Vesting Retirement Plan includes employees hired after March 1, 2001.
Union Employee Retirement Plans
| Hire Date | Plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Dining Services | Employee Pension Plan* | |
| Facilities Management | Employee Pension Plan* | |
| Library Union | Legacy Retirement Plan for Non-Exempt Staff | |
| Public Safety Employees | Before July 20, 2001 | Legacy Retirement Plan for Non-Exempt Staff |
| After July 20, 2001 | Deferred Vesting Retirement Plan |
*Participants in the Employee Pension Plan are eligible to make voluntary contributions to a 403(b) retirement account.
Retirement Plan Consultations
Schedule a virtual individual consultation with a representative from TIAA or Fidelity as part of the University's Financial Tuesdays. These consultations are designed to help you put your retirement savings plan on track and better understand your investment options.
Retirement Plan Carriers
Eligible employees may choose to direct voluntary and, if applicable, University contributions to one or both of these carriers:
Retirement Plan Contribution Limits
All Brown employees may contribute to a Brown University 403(b) account. If you are not now contributing, consider doing so in 2024 to reduce your taxes and save for retirement.
IRS regulations limit the amount you and Brown can contribute each year. The dollar limits for 2024 are as follows:
- The maximum amount you may contribute if you are under age 50 is $23,000. If you are age 50 or above in 2023, you may contribute up to $30,500. The combined limit on all contributions, both employee and employer, is $69,000 for employees under age 50 and $76,500 for age 50 and above.
- The mandatory 2% contribution under Brown’s Legacy Retirement Plan does not count toward these employee contribution limits. Monthly employee deferrals and University contributions cease after the eligible compensation you have received in a calendar year exceeds the IRS limit on compensation for plan purposes, which is $345,000 in 2024.
The same limits apply if you are making retirement contributions pre-tax to a 403(b) account and/or post-tax to a 403(b) Roth account.
We encourage all employees to periodically review their contributions.
Your contributions to any of the Brown retirement plans are always fully vested, or nonforfeitable.
If you are a participant in the Brown University Legacy Retirement Plan, you are fully vested in Brown’s contributions. The vesting schedule for the University’s contributions to the Deferred Vesting Plan can be found on the plan page.
The information presented here represents a summary of the plan's eligibility requirements and benefits; in the event of a conflict between the information contained on these web pages and the applicable plan document, the plan document will apply.