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Eligibility and Enrollment

Employees and elected officials of Nassau County are eligible to participate in the Nassau County Deferred Compensation Plan and may enroll at any time.

If you are a Nassau County Community College employee, you may contribute to the plan in addition to participating in other voluntary retirement plans offered by the College.

To Enroll online, click hereopens in new window and complete the information.
Nassau County Deferred Compensation Plan #: 006420 (you will need to enter this number)

Contributions

You have a choice on how to save in the Deferred Compensation plan with pre-tax contributions, or Roth, after-tax contributions. With pre-tax deferrals, you generally pay less in current income taxes, since your contributions to your account are made pre-tax. Also, any growth in your account value is on a tax-deferred basis, which means you do not have to pay taxes on your account's earnings until you withdraw the money.

Roth contributions, on the other hand, do not reduce your current income since they are made on an after-tax basis; however, any qualified distributions of Roth contributions and earnings are made free from federal income tax.

• Minimum annual contribution (pre-tax or Roth)—$260
• Maximum of 85% of pay, up to $22,500 in 2023
• Those who will be age 50 and up in 2023 can make an additional contribution of $7,500 in 2023
• During the three years before normal retirement age, you may also make a special catch-up contribution (may not be made in the same year as age 50 contributions)
• Rollovers from another employer’s eligible plan or IRA are accepted into the Plan at any time. Please contact one of the plan’s counselors for more information
• Consider all your options and their features and fees before moving money between accounts

Fund Transfers

Currently, there are no restrictions on transfers among investment options (subject to the Excessive Trading Policy).

Loans

You may borrow money from your Deferred Compensation Plan account for any purpose. For loans initiated after 5/19/2021, loan repayments will be made on a monthly basis via ACH. You will need to provide your bank routing number and account number at the time you request the loan.

Any outstanding loan balance not paid back at termination becomes taxable in the year of default. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018 for defaults related to termination of employment after 2017, the individual has until the due date of that year's return (including extensions) to roll over this amount to an IRA or qualified employer plan.

Withdrawals

You may be able to withdraw funds from your Deferred Compensation Plan account if you experience an unforeseen emergency as defined by the Plan.

Distributions

When your employment with Nassau County ends, you have the following options for the money in your account:

• Leave your funds in the Plan (subject to federal rules on required minimum distributions)
• Take a full or partial distribution
• Take a full or partial systematic withdrawal
• Roll over your vested account balance to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or other eligible retirement plan

Required Minimum Distributions

As of January 1, 2023, the IRS generally requires you to start taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) at age 73. (If you turned 72 in 2022 and delayed your first-time RMD until April 1, 2023, you must take your 2022 RMD by April 1, 2023, and your 2023 RMD by December 31, 2023.)

Amounts withdrawn are subject to income taxes and plan restrictions. Neither Empower nor any of its affiliates provide tax or legal advice, for which you should consult your qualified professional.