403(b)/457(b): How Much Can I Contribute?

ALERT!! Effective 08/08/2008, no changes will be made to CCC’s legacy website, now with Internet address www.ncompliancelegacy.com. Henceforth, www.ncompliance.com goes directly to CCC's new, dynamic, database supported website.

For many months now, CCC has been developing and testing a new, dynamic, database-supported website, which now resides at www.ncompliance.com, while at the same time maintaining this website, which is now our legacy website (www.ncompliancelegacy.com). Development of the new website was essential to allow CCC to provide dedicated sections of its website to more than 50 new clients accumulated since publication of the Final 403(b) Regulations on July 23, 2007. We chose completion of the Plan Document System on the new website as the appropriate time to migrate from the legacy website, even though considerable work remains to be done. Specifically, we will be working with Vendors through the end of calendar year 2008 to incorporate updated Vendor information into the new website. Moreover, 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan (DCP) information remains only on this legacy website, but those CCC clients for which we are managing their 457(b) Plans may continue to refer to this legacy website until the full migration has been accomplished.

We are very proud of our new website, especially the Plan Document System and the Content Management System (CMS), which allows Client Employers and Vendors to manage the content of their own sections of the website. We hope you share our enthusiasm and will create links form your own websites to your dedicated sections of the CCC website. Doing so will provide everything your employees need to know about their 403(b) Program.

403(b) MAC
Your maximum allowable contribution (MAC) to the 403(b) plan depends on your age and years of service with the District. Also, the elective deferral limits are scheduled to increase each year through 2006. For additional details on your 403(b) MAC calculation, go to 403(b) elective deferral information.

457(b) MAC
Your maximum allowable contribution (MAC) to the 457(b) plan depends on your age and your normal retirement age. Again, the contribution limits are scheduled to increase each year through 2006. For additional details on your 457(b) MAC calculation, go to maximum 457(b) contribution information.

Request A Personal Calculation
If you are interested in maximizing your contributions and would like to have a personal calculation performed, click on the above link. CCC makes these calculations for District employees as one of its compliance assurance and plan administration services.

Frequently Asked Questions
If you still have questions, check out the answers to these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

Ask Your Own Questions
Click on this link to pose your own questions to Carruth Compliance Consulting, by electronic mail (email), telephone, fax, or any standard mail carrier.


Maximum Contributions To Both
Whereas combined 403(b) TSA and 457(b) DCP contributions were limited to $8,500 in 2001, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief and Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) dramatically increased these limits beginning in 2002. During 2008 you are allowed to contribute $15,500 to the 403(b) TSA and an additional $15,500 to the 457(b) DCP, for a total of $31,000, provided your gross income is sufficiently larger than $31,000 to allow such contributions. Moreover, if your 50th birthday occurs on or before December 31, 2008, you are allowed to contribute an additional $10,000 to the combination of plans, for a total of $41,000. Furthermore, if you will have completed 15 years of full-time equivalent service in the District by December 31, 2008, you may be eligible to contribute an additional $3,000, for a total of $34,000 if under age 50 and a total of $44,000 if age 50 or over. Finally, if 2008 is one of the three calendar years preceeding your normal retirement age, your combined limit could be as high as $54,500. These limits represent huge increases from those in 2001, and they are scheduled to increase further in future years. You may not feel that you are able to contribute the maximum allowable amounts to the TSA and DCP programs. However, any amounts you are able to contribute will help to ensure a more comfortable retirement income for you, when your TSA and DCP contributions with earnings are combined with Social Security and your State pension plan benefits.