Faculty and staff who have met the Rule of 65 as defined below and who anticipate continuing to work for the university on a limited part-time basis (i.e. less than 20 hours per week) should not retire and then rehire. Instead, they should transfer to a part-time role with their scheduled weekly hours set to less than 20. Note: Once a faculty member or staff employee meets the below requirements, they retain eligibility for retiree benefits even if they move to a part-time role with scheduled weekly hours of less than 20 hours before they fully retire. In other words, they do not need to terminate employment and be rehired to retain eligibility for retiree benefits.
Rule of 65
To be eligible for retiree health, dental, vision and life insurance benefits from WashU, faculty and staff must meet the following requirements:
- They must be at least 55 years old; and
- They must have completed at least five (5) consecutive years of service as a faculty or staff employee with scheduled weekly hours of at least 20 hours per week; and
- Their age plus years of service must equal 65 or greater (“Rule of 65”).
To be eligible for the Dependent Child Tuition Assistance plan as a retiree, faculty and staff must meet the following requirements:
- They must be at least 55 years old; and
- They must have completed at least seven (7) consecutive full-time years of service (or the equivalent number of part-time years of service with scheduled weekly hours of at least 20 hours per week) as a faculty or staff employee; and
- Their age plus years of service must equal 65 or greater.
Eligible service includes only full years of service with WashU; partial years do not apply. Service as a part-time employee with scheduled weekly hours of less than 20 per week, or as a postdoctoral appointee or clinical fellow trainee is not recognized in determining whether the Rule of 65 has been met.
Impact on Benefits
The following summarizes the impact on benefits if the Rule of 65 as described above has been met, and the faculty member or staff employee transitions to a part time role with scheduled weekly hours less than 20 hours. Faculty and staff should also review the Comparison of Impact on Benefits Gradual Retirement vs. Fully Retire or Retire and Return to the University chart (PDF).
Medical, Dental and Vision
The faculty member or staff employee will be able to continue their active medical, dental and vision coverages at part-time rates. Their contributions for coverage will no longer be deducted from their pay. Instead, monthly invoices will be sent to their home address for their medical, dental and vision contributions by HealthEquity/WageWorks and they must make timely payments, or their coverage will be terminated. HealthEquity/WageWorks offers several payment options, including automatic withdrawals from a bank account. Information on the payment options will be sent after they transition to a role with scheduled weekly hours of less than 20.
The faculty member or staff employee is not eligible to enroll in the under age 65 retiree medical coverage or the retiree Medicare supplemental coverage while they are employed by the university.
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
If the faculty member or staff employee is participating in an FSA, their contributions will stop, and their coverage will end as of the end of the month in which their scheduled weekly hours fall below 20. They can submit claims for expenses incurred prior to coverage ending through April 30 of the year after their scheduled weekly hours fall below 20. Any funds remaining in their account after the filing deadline will be forfeited. They may continue participation in the health care FSA through COBRA for the remainder of the calendar year.
Health Savings Account (HSA)
If the faculty member or staff employee participates in the HSA, their payroll contributions will stop but they can access their remaining account balance at Optum Financial to pay for eligible out-of-pocket health expenses. They may also be eligible to make after-tax deductible contributions to their HSA directly to Optum Financial. Learn more by logging in to your account.
Life and AD&D
Active term life and AD&D coverages will end as of the end of the month in which their scheduled weekly hours fall below 20. Within 31 days of their coverage ending, they will be contacted by MetLife regarding conversion options for their coverage.
If they are enrolled in Group Variable Universal Life Insurance (GVUL) coverage, they may continue that coverage by paying premiums directly to MetLife. Contact MetLife at 800-756-0124 to set up payment arrangements.
Retiree life insurance coverage will begin as of the first of the month following the date active term life insurance coverage ends.
Retirement Medical Savings Account (RMSA)
Contributions to the RMSA will stop when their scheduled weekly hours fall below 20; however, they may not access amounts in their RMSA until they fully retire.
Disability
Coverage under the Short-Term Medical Disability (staff only) and WashU-provided Long-Term Disability (LTD) plan(s) will end as of the date their scheduled weekly hours fall below 20. If a faculty member is participating in the LTD Buy-up option, or if a faculty member or staff employee is participating in the LTD Supplemental option, their contributions will stop, and their coverage will end as of the end of the pay period for which their last contributions were made.
Retirement Savings Plan
Contributions to the 403(b) Retirement Savings Plan will continue based on the faculty member or staff employee’s current contribution election. If their current contribution percentage is at least 5%, the university contribution will also continue. Participants are not permitted to take a distribution from the Retirement Savings Plan while they are employed by the university unless they have reached age 59-1/2.
Deferred Compensation Plan (457(b))
Faculty and staff contributions to the 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan will stop when their scheduled weekly hours fall below 20 unless their compensation will equal or exceed the Social Security Wage Base. Participants cannot receive a distribution from the 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan until they fully retire.
Deferred Compensation Plan (457(b))
Faculty and staff participating in a 457(f) Deferred Compensation Plan should contact the WashU Benefits team at 314-935-2332, option #1 or via email at hr-benefitsmail@wustl.edu to understand the impact of their retirement decisions on this plan.
Additional Information
Retirement Transitions Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)